


A new life

by BlueGlitter



Category: Football RPF
Genre: Blow Jobs, First Time, Fluff and Smut, Idiots in Love, M/M, Masturbation, Self-Discovery, Slow Build
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-09
Updated: 2017-09-24
Packaged: 2018-06-01 07:27:52
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 56
Words: 128,948
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6508531
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlueGlitter/pseuds/BlueGlitter
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Antoine arrives at his new club and finds more good things than he expected.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> It's my first fic in ages so I hope it's not too bad.  
> Disclaimer: English is not my first language, forgive any grammatical mistakes, etc.
> 
> Hope you like this pairing, I've not read anything about them so here it goes.

The first days at Atleti had been a nightmare for Antoine. He was used to softer trainings even in the most intense times of the season. If it was this bad this early, he would probably die before the season even started.

The team was preparing the season in the summer training camp. They were going to spend two weeks over there with double and triple training sessions everyday, just to get ready for the season. “Triple sessions, how does that even work?” Antoine wondered, lying on the bed of his room. 

He could feel every single muscle of his body ache, some of them even cramping. He was so tired that he wasn’t even hungry and he didn’t even want to socialize with his new teammates. He was a charming young man who had a very loveable personality. Always cheerful, always joking, but too shy in a new environment. He loved to hang out with people, but he sometimes had trouble meeting new people.  
He was lost in his thoughts when someone knocked on the door.

“Hey man, welcome to the team!” it was Diego Godin, who had just arrived from his short holidays in Uruguay. Diego was one of the most respected people in the team, he was one of the captains, everybody knew about his fierce character, but also everybody agreed about him being a wonderful person as well. “Can I come in?”

“Sure” replied Antoine stepping aside with a soft smile. He remembered Diego from the matches he played against him in the past, and honestly, he was happy that now he was on his side. “Are you my roommate? I knew that it was too good to be true being all by myself.”

“Yeah, I guess. It’s always like this. When there’s someone new on the team, he gets a captain as a roommate. I think it’s the Manager’s way to welcome you all to the team… and it’s also a way to keep you on the right track” Diego explained, leaving his stuff on the empty bed.

“So… you’re like… my babysitter?” Antoine grimaced, he didn’t like to be treated like a kid, he was mature enough to know how not to fuck up in his new team. 

Diego shrugged “only if you give me reasons to do it.” He sat on his bed grinning. “So tell me, how are you feeling here? I bet it’s weird for you, you’ve spent so many years in San Sebastian.”

Antoine suddenly felt a rush of nostalgia. It was the first time in ten years that he was going to do a summer camp with a different team than Real Sociedad. He was the newbie here and everybody was watching his progress carefully, he could already feel the pressure. Everything was so different to San Sebastian, where he was the star and everything he did was ok to everybody’s eyes. “Well, the training is very hard, I almost collapsed this morning.”

Diego laughed roaming through his suitcase. “It’s always like that, you’ll get used to it and it will get better, I promise. Don’t tell anybody, but last season Villa puked after his first training, and look at him at the end of the season!” He continued reassuringly. “Do you want some mate?” He asked taking out a small box that was carefully packed.

Antoine smiled, finally something that he could recognize. He used to drink mate all the time with his Real Sociedad teammates. “Please.”

Godin started preparing the beverage. “So, the training is hard, but how about the team? Have you already made some friends?”

And again Antoine felt like he was being treated like a child. It was actually the kind of sentence a mother would ask after his kid’s first day of school. But he understood Diego’s concern, most of the success of someone in a team starts by having a good relationship with his teammates. “Well, I just arrived from my holidays, and they were short because of the World Cup so I’m not training with the group. I’m having separate sessions with the coaches to get to their same physical level, so our schedules are a bit different and I’ve not had the chance to talk too much to anybody yet.” He replied a bit saddened. He hated the feeling of being the new guy.

“Not a problem, tonight you’ll have dinner on my table, and I’ll introduce you to some of the most important people over here.” He replied handing a cup of mate to the young man. “Here’s to a great start in Atleti, cheers!” He said, raising his cup and sipping a bit from it. 

“Cheers!” Antoine replied faking a smile. He wasn’t sure if it was a good idea meeting all the important people on the team at the same time, it sounded overwhelming, but he didn’t have a chance.

\----

“So… Antoine… Do you really want me to call you Antoine? Do you have a nickname or something?” asked Diego, guiding him through the corridors of the residence with an arm wrapped around his shoulders.

“My friends call me Grizi, but you can use whatever you want.” he answered, feeling protected by the older man. At least he was trying his best at making him feel welcomed. 

They arrived at the dining hall which had several tables arranged. One was for all the coaching staff, and then there were four tables for the players. “Here” Diego signaled. They got to the table and Gabi and Raúl García were already there. “Guys, do you already know Grizi?” Diego asked in a cheerful tone. 

“Welcome to the team, Antoine! We were wondering where you were, we’ve not seen you since you arrived!” Said Gabi, shaking Antoine’s hand with a tender smile.  
Gabi was probably the most important person among the players. He was the captain, he had played hundreds of matches with the team and all the youngsters on the team looked up to him. He also had the fame of being a tough guy so his presence was a bit intimidating for Antoine.

Antoine greeted them all and sat beside Diego, leaving two empty chairs on his left side. He wasn’t completely sure he could sit there, but nobody said anything against it, so he decided to relax. 

Five minutes later Koke and Juanfran arrived. Antoine carefully observed them, they were different worlds. Juanfran was almost in his thirties, with a dark beard and soft eyes, his smile was kind and he seemed a calm man. Koke was in his early twenties, clean shaved, quite tanned and way more noisy than his older friend. 

“Hey what’s up, welcome to the team!” Said Koke squeezing Antoine’s shoulder and offering his other hand. Antoine awkwardly stood up to shake his hand and Juanfran’s. "Thank you, it's my pleasure." He greeted with a smirk. The younger man sat beside him. 

“We were looking forward to meet you.” Continued Juanfran politely. He smiled shyly and sat down. next to Koke.

They started having dinner and Antoine didn’t want to talk too much. He had a bubbly personality but sometimes he came across smug if people didn’t get to know him too much, so his strategy was to stay there, eat, listen, gather information, and shut up for the rest of the night. Anyway his teammates didn’t seem to pay too much attention to him, they were quite busy talking about their holidays and their families.  
He kept on hearing names of people everybody knew but him so he tried to guess what they were talking about: wives... siblings… mothers... pets?

“How about you, Grizi?” Someone asked. He was so absorbed in his thoughts that he didn’t know what they were even talking about. 

“Sorry, what?” He asked embarrassed, he was supposed to be paying attention to everything and learn from the others, but all the new information was too much for him.

“Do you have a girlfriend or something?” Koke asked bluntly. Antoine thought it was cute that he had added that 'or something' at the end of the question. “I’m free at the moment.” He replied with a cheeky smile, his face turning red. 

He didn’t like to speak openly about his private life, specially when it was a bit different from most of the other football players. His last serious relationship had ended a year ago; a cute boy from San Sebastian who also happened to be his first gay relationship. He was nice and discreet, he never told anybody about him being gay. But that guy met someone else and decided to tell Antoine before he could hurt him. That’s how two years of love ended, leaving Antoine destroyed for a few months.

“Ha! Look at that face! You must be a heartbreaker!” Teased Raúl. “I bet you have a lot of candidates out there. If you’re free it must be because you certainly want to”. Antoine’s face turned redder and redder. He wasn’t comfortable talking about that, especially in front of strangers. He was sure they’d end up being great friends, but everything needed time. “How about all of you?” He quickly fired back, trying to divert the attention from his face.

“Raúl, Juanfran, and me are married.” Gabi answered. “Diego has a girlfriend, and Koke’s status remains a mystery.” he laughed. 

Koke let out a nervous laugh and shrugged his shoulders, but he didn’t explain why his love life was a mystery to his friends. Antoine decided that it was too soon to ask, but he was definitely intrigued. Koke was definitely cute, young, famous, and everybody mentioned how he didn’t have a bad bone in his body. It was hard to believe that he wasn’t already taken. 

A few minutes later the dinner finished and everybody went back to their rooms, they had the first training at 7:00 AM the next day. Simeone didn’t like people arriving late.


	2. Chapter 2

It was a new day and Antoine felt shattered. Nobody had told him that Godin was such a heavy snorer. He didn’t have earplugs to block the snores out so he tried his best with his earbuds, playing music on his phone, but he was lucky if he had grabbed 3 hours of sleep.

“Morning guys! We’re gonna start running for a bit and then we will stretch. If anyone feels too charged, please let us know, we know some of you have had long flights in the last hours and we’re not going to risk an injury this soon.” Simeone explained to his players in the golf course the facility had. They used it for the running sessions because of its length. “Ok, forty five minutes. Go!”

Antoine tried to keep up with everybody’s rhythm to impress the coaches, even though he was feeling a bit heavy on the chest after half an hour. His new teammates were definitely aliens, even Diego or Josema who had just landed from Uruguay, were keeping the pace without a problem.

When all of them completed the session, they proceeded to stretch. German Burgos keeping an eye on them. Gabi was next to Antoine, and noticed his weary face. “What’s up? You look tired.” 

The bags under his eyes were quite noticeable, he was very pale and looked like he was going to pull a Villa and start puking right there. “I had a bad night.” He replied without energy. 

Gabi nodded and smiled. “Godin.” He said.

Antoine opened his mouth and looked at him annoyed. “Why didn’t anyone warn me? He snores like a beast!” He whined. 

“Consider it your welcoming prank.” Gabi winked and Antoine felt more and more angry. He didn’t have the mood or energy to endure pranks from these assholes. Gabi noticed that his face was too serious. “Oh, come on, we’ll fix it, don’t worry. Nobody deserves the “Godin treatment” two nights in a row.” He promised. 

\---

Antoine had to kill four hours before the next training session so he decided that the best idea was to nap. After last night, he’d probably sleep like a baby. So he laid down on his bed, and closed his eyes. 

Three hours later he woke up. He felt like a human again, not like some kind of grumpy zombie. “Good morning sleepyhead!” Someone said in an extremely cheerful tone. 

He lazily turned around until he saw Koke sitting on the edge of the other bed, tapping his phone. 

“What are you doing here?” Antoine got to ask, still half-asleep, covering his eyes from the excess of light the room had. 

“Huh, not a morning person I see.” Koke replied raising his eyes from the phone and looking at him. “Say hi to your new roommate!” He continued with the almost-annoyingly cheerful tone. “I’m sorry nobody told you about Godin. I thought you knew, that’s why I didn’t mention it.”

He sounded sincere, at least to Antoine’s sleepy brain. “Don’t worry, at least he gave me mate.” He replied stretching his arms a bit.

“Be careful, that shit is addictive.” Koke joked. “So… Gabi told me that you had spent such a terrible night and we decided that the best idea was if it was me being the one sleeping here with you.”

“And why is that?” Antoine finally sat up on his bed. “What makes you such a good roommate?” He asked in disbelief, his body wasn’t ready for another stupid prank. He bet his ass that Koke snored, or farted a lot, or probably sleep-talked, or maybe all of them at the same time. 

“The guys say that I don’t fall asleep... I faint. I don’t make any kind of noise and I don’t move an inch. Sometimes they are worried because I’m such a heavy sleeper. I didn’t even listen to the fire alarm that surprised us once in an Italian hotel.” He explained excitedly. 

Seems that was Koke’s usual mood, and Antoine thought that maybe the change was a good one, he needed someone positive with him. 

He smiled to the other boy. “I see. But Diego told me that the new players get captains as roomies?” He asked confusedly.

Koke furrowed his brows “Excuse you, I’m the fourth captain!” He replied proudly. Even though he was only 22, his teammates had decided that he would be the fourth captain after Gabi, Raul and Godin. After all, he had spent his whole life at Atleti. 

“I… I’m sorry. I didn’t want to offend you. You are young to be a captain, you must feel so proud about it.” Antoine apologized. Koke was a year younger than him but this was his sixth season in the first team. Not many in the team could beat those numbers.

Koke’s face softened. “It’s ok, Grizi! You didn’t have to know it. Now let’s get some food before we hit the gym!”

Antoine liked how his nickname sounded on Koke’s raspy voice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked it even though its a bit short :)


	3. Chapter 3

A few days sharing a room with Koke were enough for Antoine to discover a few facts of his new friend. 

It was true, Koke was scary while sleeping. Not a sound, not a move, nothing. It was actually a bit annoying in the mornings, because the alarm clock would ring for a while until he woke up. 

He also discovered that he had a privileged brain for football. He could see things on the pitch that nobody else could. Antoine could understand why Simeone trusted him so much. But apart from that, he wasn’t the most brilliant person on Earth. It was endearing, Antoine would admit. And he liked to be the clever one in the room, he could use that to his favour.

Another thing he found out was that Koke was quite reserved with his personal life. He mentioned his brother or his parents a few times, but that was all. He looked shy and cautious, and not very talkative. But as soon as he was surrounded with his friends, he was the first one making jokes. 

And last but not least, he was awful at video games. Antoine loved that because it was like playing against his younger brother, and made him feel a bit like home. 

 

Antoine was slowly feeling better on the team. Everybody was friendly and really helpful. The coaches would not put too much pressure on his shoulders as they understood that he needed a bit more of time.  
And the best thing it was that they finally had a free weekend after all the hard work. 

He decided it was time to start settling in his new place which was full of boxes with his things. A few of his teammates had offered him help, because most of them lived in the same area. An exclusive residential area in Madrid with very expensive houses, full of famous people, singers, actors and of course, sports people. It was a generous offer but he didn’t want to disturb them in their free weekend, they’d probably want to spend time with their families, so he declined. 

After he was more or less done, he sank on the sofa. These first days had been exhausting and way too much for him. Right when he was about to fall asleep his phone rang.

\- Hello?  
\- Hey Grizi, it’s Koke. There’s a delivery man over here quite lost because he can’t find your house, I think you gave him the wrong address.  
\- Where are you?  
\- I guess that only a few streets away from you. I was taking a walk and found this disoriented man asking for directions.  
\- Ok no problem. Thanks man!

Antoine gave him his correct address and hung up. He smiled at the coincidence, of course Koke, of all people, would be the only one walking around the neighbourhood to help that man.

Five minutes later his doorbell rang and he opened the door, there was the delivery guy and a few meters behind him, Koke was leaning on the delivery van. He waved excitedly from there.

After signing the receipt, he approached Koke and shook hands with him. “Thanks again, I really need all these things.” Said Antoine with a smile of relief.

Koke offered his help to carry the boxes and Antoine just couldn’t fight against that. Both of them grabbed a few boxes and walked to the house.

“Woah, nice place!” exclaimed Koke a bit too excitedly, his voice resounded through the half-empty rooms. 

Antoine shook his head, he was only trying to be polite, but he thanked the effort. “Come on, let’s have a drink!” Antoine offered. 

He opened his fridge and it was painfully empty. After all, this was the first day he was actually living there. He lowered his head in defeat. Koke peeked over his shoulder and let out a muffled laugh.

“I’ll have a glass of water.” Replied Koke jokingly. 

“Water it is!” Agreed Antoine between laughs.

They went to the living room and sat on the floor between cardboard boxes. They started sharing stories about moving to new houses and spent a good time laughing. Koke told him how he lost all of his underwear when he moved to his current house and had to go to an emergency shopping trip.

Antoine was having a very nice time, but he was tired of the small talk, he really wanted to know more about his friend. “So, how come you’re not spending time with your family like the others?” He didn’t want to sound rude, but he was genuinely surprised.

Koke shrugged. “They’re all on holidays, my family and friends. They’re on the beach, so I’m all by myself this weekend” he replied sipping from his glass. 

“Do you live alone?” Antoine asked curiously.

“Yeah, I do. I like this zone because it’s closer to our training place. Most of the people of the team live here so it makes it a very nice place to stay. I liked being in Vallecas with my parents, but when I started playing a bit more it was a bit tiring to have everybody recognizing me on the street. So I decided to move.” Koke explained. 

“I bet you throw the best parties over here.” Joked Antoine. “Free as a bird. Clever boy!”

Koke pulled a face. “Well, I’ve actually never thrown a party in my place. I’m not comfortable at parties.” he said absent-minded.

Antoine nodded. “Let me guess, you prefer being with your small group of friends instead of partying out like crazy.” He pointed out. He knew how he felt, even though he liked parties, he wasn’t much of a party animal either. 

“It’s exactly like that, I’m surprised you understand, people our age think I’m crazy. You know, I’m famous and I don’t like parties. I’m a weirdo, right?” He asked with a hint of annoyance in his voice. It was the first time Antoine saw Koke half-angry, you could tell he had gone through a lot of shit just for being loyal to his true self.

“You’re perfectly normal, my friend.” Antoine replied patting Koke’s knee. “You’re just quieter than them, everybody should live their lives as they really want to, and not how others tell them to do.”

Koke grinned at Antoine’s words. “Wow, that’s so deep!” Yeah, I like to do things my way.” 

Antoine rolled his eyes, it wasn’t deep at all, it was just a cliche sentence that turned out to work quite well in this situation. He loved how easily-amused Koke was. 

Now that they were alone, Antoine had to ask about ‘it’, he was way too curious, and Koke wouldn’t probably mind the question. “Koke…” He said a bit softer than expected. “I’m just curious, why did the guys say that your life is a mystery?” He strategically left the “love” part out of that sentence because he didn’t want to sound nosy.

 

“Oh that!” Koke remembered, not caring too much about it. “It’s just that I never bring anybody with me to the team dinners, sponsors events, etc. So it has become an ongoing joke with the guys. They don’t pick on me for that, they just find it funny, I guess.”

“But are you seeing anybody at the moment?” Antoine facepalmed in his brain, he shouldn’t had asked that, that sounded intrusive. But he couldn’t help himself. He didn’t know why, but he really wanted to know.

“No, I’m not… I’ve not seen anyone in a long time.” Koke shook his head.

Antoine arched an eyebrow at that ‘in a long time’. Koke was 22, how long was ‘a long time’ for someone that young? But he decided that it was enough for the day, Koke seemed uncomfortable with that kind of questions. “Well, just give it time, man, you’ll find someone perfect for you, I’m sure.” Again a cliche sentence, but those seemed to work well with Koke. 

“Yeah, sure... Come on, let’s have some dinner at my place! You’re gonna starve here!” He offered while standing up. Antoine couldn’t pass…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, sorry for all the grammar/spelling mistakes, I really try my best.
> 
> Hope you like how the story is developing :)


	4. Chapter 4

Koke’s place was surprisingly neat for a young man who lives alone. It was also true that the place wasn’t full of furniture or decorations. It was simple, modern and maybe a bit cold. It was a house but it didn’t feel like a home, Antoine thought.

A ‘nice’ escaped Antoine’s lips, who was checking the living room. He admitted that Koke’s couch looked a hundred of times more comfortable that his cardboard boxes.

They decided to order some pizzas and relax watching TV. But the hard training was noticeable and Antoine just fell asleep quite quickly. When he woke up he saw Koke sleeping by his side, his position looked quite awkward but he declined waking him up as it was quite impossible. He had fallen asleep in a sitting position, his neck was all leaned back, and his legs were resting on the coffee table in front of him. The TV was still on.  
It seems all the physical effort also got to him.

Antoine stared at Koke’s face for a while, his long eyelashes fluttering, his parted lips letting his breathing pass, he looked so peaceful. For a second he considered cuddling with him, his body irradiated a nice warmth and he desperately needed some physical contact, he was feeling so lonely since he had arrived to Madrid, but that’d be so difficult to explain when Koke woke up. Antoine was a quite touchy person but he didn’t have enough confidence with any of the teammates yet. So he decided that just moving a few inches closer to Koke would suffice.  
He placed his head on a cushion, next to Koke’s legs, discarding the initial plan of placing it on his lap. He curled into a ball and closed his eyes again, falling asleep quickly.

When he woke up again, it was already daytime, but it didn’t seem too late. He felt fingers running smoothly through his hair, it sent shivers down his spine. He didn’t want to move because he didn’t want it to end. Koke’s fingers played with the short hair on the sides of his head, drawing small circles. The tingly sensation was too good for words. He could hear Spongebob Squarepants on the background and Koke muffled laugh. He would have rolled his eyes if they weren’t already closed. He didn’t know him too much yet, but he could tell that that was _so Koke_.

The fingers continued tracing patterns on his head, gently scraping his scalp. When the hand reached the back of his head, Antoine couldn’t help himself from shivering, the feeling was just so good, but sadly that made Koke stop.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you up.” Apologized Koke quite embarrassed. “I’m just used to do that to Romeo all the time, I’m so sorry.”

Antoine sat up a bit nervous. Who was Romeo and why was he getting all of Koke’s cuddles? “Romeo?” He got to ask, pretending not to care.

“Romeo is my cat. He’s the most beautiful cat in the world! Right now my brother is taking care of him, because the pre-season is keeping me away from home. But he lives with me over here.”

Antoine didn’t know if he should feel annoyed because he had just been compared to a cat, or relieved because Romeo wasn’t a guy. And why was he even jealous in the first place? What if Romeo was a guy? He shouldn’t care about that kind of stuff, after all, Koke wasn’t even his friend. Why was he caring so much about it?  
He was too lost in his thoughts and Koke was staring at him with a confused face waiting for him to react, he needed to say something quickly to not raise any suspicions, something clever, something interesting...

“Cats are cool!”

_Genius._

Koke grinned and sat up. “We should have some breakfast!” He said stretching his arms and back. He grabbed his neck with his hands and stretched it too, he furrowed his brows in the process and let out a small groan.

“Does it hurt?” Asked Antoine standing up.

“Yeah, I fell asleep in the worst possible position. I woke up being a pretzel.” Koke replied rubbing his neck.

“Can I…?” Said Antoine politely, signaling his neck. With a bit more of confidence he wouldn’t have asked, but again, he didn’t want to scare Koke away. Koke nodded and Antoine started pressing the tense muscles. “Man, this is a mess! Sit down, I’ll give you a massage.”

Koke looked at him unsure. “Tonight we’ll be back in the residence, I can ask one of the physios, maybe it’s better if they take care of it.”

Antoine shook his head. “Come on, it’s only a minute, and I’ve learnt a lot from Real’s physios, trust me!” He begged, he craved that physical contact so much he would have done whatever to convince him.

“Fine, you win! But please, be careful!” Replied doubtful Koke, sitting down and taking off his shirt.

That’s when Antoine got to admire the muscles in his back. It obviously wasn’t the first time he had seen him shirtless, but it was the first time he could see him that close. His wide back was perfectly sculpted, his muscles were solid, and his skin was so soft. Antoine was going to enjoy this so much.

Antoine sat behind him and started rubbing the neck and the upper part of his back to warm the muscles up. “Let me know if it hurts.” He continued kneading softly the skin on his shoulders. His thumbs were expertly running through the pained muscles, and the rest of the fingers slid delicately over his skin, caressing it tenderly and easing the pain away. “Wow, you have destroyed your neck. This must be hurting you like a bitch.”

Koke nodded, his hands were fisting his trousers his knuckles turning white, and his eyes were strongly shut, wrinkles forming at the sides of his eyes. “It hurts, but it feels good, don’t stop.”

Antoine smiled to himself. He remembered saying that exact sentence a few times in his life before, in very different scenarios, and the simple thought made him blush. He shook his head and continued working through those muscles. He could hear Koke moaning softly when he pressed specific points and he could recognize that the whole situation was quite hot. He started sweating and he could even feel his cock twitching a bit, but he decided to ignore everything and focus on the work he was doing. He bit his lip and tried to clear his mind from all those thoughts that were filling it.

A few minutes of skin rubbing later, he patted Koke’s shoulder. “Done! How do you feel now?”

Koke moved his neck slowly in multiple directions and then he opened his eyes wide in disbelief “It’s gone! Oh my God, you could make a living with those hands!”

Antoine laughed at Koke mentioning that. He was making a very good living thanks to his feet he didn’t need to ‘make a living’ with anything else.

“I owe you one!” Exclaimed Koke punching his shoulder.

Antoine flashed a cheeky smile. “You owe me one.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we go. Thanks for the kudos and comments. 
> 
> Feel free to comment, I love comments! ;)


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is a little bit longer, I hope you like it.

A few more days into the training camp were enough for Antoine to see that he would fit in his new club perfectly. People were starting to love him, everybody made jokes around him, he was invited to people’s rooms to hang out, the coaches started to see his progress and he didn’t feel like death with every minute of training.

Everything was almost perfect. _Almost_.

What it wasn’t perfect was the fact that he was falling for his roommate without even trying. Every time Koke said something, he was all ears. He had his eyes glued to him during the training sessions. He was hyper-aware when he shared a story with the team, and he enjoyed way too much looking at him doing the most ordinary things, like writing or sleeping.

And it wasn’t perfect because he was certain Koke wasn’t gay. And if he was, he hadn’t showed any kind of special interest for Antoine. He treated him like he treated the rest of the guys. He was touchy and friendly, but it wasn’t any different with him. The only good part of this situation was that he completely ignored Antoine’s growing feelings for him so it wouldn't feel akward in any given moment. To be fair, even Antoine tried to ignore them, because he didn’t want to get hurt. But everything fell to pieces every time he was in the shower, jerking off while thinking about him. The guilt afterwards was sour and painful, because it really felt so wrong. Koke was treating him as his new best friend and he was using him to feed his fantasies, that could never be right.

He had tried to keep his mind cold hundreds of times, he tried to tell himself that he couldn’t be falling for him in such a little time, it wasn’t possible. Maybe he was magnifying their friendship to that point. Maybe he was just confused because Koke was his first Atleti friend, and when someone makes a friend when feeling so lonely, they look at them with different eyes.

But if it was just his mind playing tricks on him, why Koke’s hugs did funny things to his stomach? Why he loved so much hearing “Grizi” from his lips? And above all, why he felt so lonely all of a sudden when he wasn’t close?

He wanted to open up about his feelings, but he felt trapped. He didn’t know who he should tell, and he wasn’t certain he wanted to tell anybody at all.

 

After the daily training Antoine decided to stay practicing free kicks all by himself while the others were going back to their rooms. He could feel the stress fading away with each precise kick. This had always been his therapy, whenever he felt stressed out, he would focus on training and that made everything better.

A few minutes later, a voice echoed through the pitch. “Nice work Antoine, but we don’t want you to tire yourself out. We’re having pretty intense sessions, you’ll have more time to practice free kicks if you want to.” It was Simeone, who appeared out of nowhere, it looked like he had gone outside to run for a while and bumped into Antoine.

“I know Mister, but I needed this.” Replied Antoine, wiping his sweat from his forehead.

“Come here.” His coach replied, throwing an arm around his shoulders and guiding him to a nearby bench. They sat down. “Let’s talk a bit about your first days. How are you feeling?”

Oh no, not this, not right now. Of course he was trying to be nice and welcoming, but Antoine didn’t want to start talking just in case he blurted out something he shouldn’t. Simeone was from Argentina and everybody knew how good Argentinians were at psychoanalyzing. It would be like facing a truth machine and Antoine wasn’t ready for that.

“I’m so tired.” He finally replied with a defeated body language.  “But everybody says it will get better, so I’m just being patient.”

Simeone laughed at his honesty. “Well, I’ve seen everything in training camps: injuries, players puking, even players fainting. You’re doing a good job so far, just take it easy.” His words comforting his player. “And how’s the team, do you feel adapted?”

Antoine nodded with a smile. Truth was that everybody was being extremely helpful.

“They’re great kids.” Simeone replied paternally. “We’ve got a really good group. Consider yourself lucky. So who are your friends so far? Who are the ones you’re spending more time with?”

 _Don’t say Koke, don’t say Koke, don’t say Koke…_ Antoine’s brain repeated like a mantra. He would have been so evident to Simeone’s mature eyes. “Well, I try to spend time with everybody. Godin is being a great host, Gabi has given me a lot of advices, Koke is my roommate so we spend a lot of time together, I play videogames with Saul…”

Simeone smiled widely. “You’re choosing well.”

“Really?” Asked Antoine, waiting for more information from his coach.

“Absolutely. Godin and Gabi are really wise, I trust them so much. Listen to everything they say because they’re very experienced and they really know how this club works, being alongside them is like studying a Master's degree. Saul is a very passionate kid and he really wants to succeed here after being on a loan last season, I want you to appreciate his enthusiasm. And Koke is extremely kind-hearted, never in three years I’ve seen him doing or saying something mean to anybody.” He replied proudly. “I actually think I’ve never seen him genuinely angry.”

Antoine’s heart melt a little. Simeone, who had the fame of being a really strict coach, talked about his players in such a close way that it was hard to believe. It was obvious that not only he knew about their technical abilities but he also knew quite a lot about their personalities and that was a really good sign of how Simeone was as a coach and as a person.

He particularly loved the words he said about Koke and he decided to keep the conversation going to see what else he had to say about him.

“Koke really looks up to you. He talks about you with such respect that sometimes I think that if you asked him to play as a goalkeeper, he would do it without batting an eyelash.” Antoine pointed out.

Simeone laughed, he knew most of his players worshipped him. And he made a star out of Koke, so that wasn’t surprising to him at all. When he arrived to Atleti, Koke was about to leave to another club on a loan because he didn’t play enough with the previous coach. Simeone stopped it and asked Koke to trust him because he knew they could do really big things together. Koke decided to trust him and the results were obvious to everybody.

“I’m glad you’re spending so much time with him, I want you to understand each other on the pitch with only a look. That’s the kind of connection I expect from both of you, we’ll work on it a lot, so you two better get along.” He explained.

And then it hit him. He hadn’t thought at all about the team dynamics but he was a forward, and Koke was the star midfielder of the team. They needed a perfect coordination and that was only possible with hundreds of hours of hard work.

“Yes Mister, we’ll try our best.” Antoine promised.

 

 

A few hours later Antoine was receiving a massage from one of the physios. The room was big and warm, and it was half empty. The silence filled the place, only the sound of the physios’ hands against the players’ bodies breaking it.

At that time one of the oldest guys on the team arrived, it was Tiago, the portuguese man who had almost left the team in summer. He always seemed distant and very reserved. He went directly towards the furthest seat in the room, and one of the physios started working with him.

“Is he always this serious?” Asked Antoine in a very low voice. “I think I’ve not seen him smiling since I arrived.”

“He’s just sad.” Replied the physio discreetly.

“Sad?”

“Yeah, he probably misses Filipe like crazy.”

Antoine remembered Filipe Luis. He had won the league with Atleti and he was a key player in Simeone’s system, but he received an interesting offer and decided to sign for Chelsea.

“Were they close friends?” Asked Antoine, interested in the story. He was wondering if anyone at Real Sociedad was feeling about his signing for Atleti like Tiago was feeling, he didn’t want his friends to have a hard time because of him.

“Well, that’s a way to say it.” Continued the physio, lowering his voice into a whisper. “They were more than close.”

“Do you mean…?” Asked Antoine, his eyes widening.

“When Filipe signed for Chelsea, Tiago almost did it too but there was some sort of problem and they couldn’t sign the two of them. I think they had too many foreign players. So they decided to ditch Tiago and he had to come back here. That’s how he lost his spot as the second team captain. Poor guy, he had imagined himself continuing his thing with Filipe in London, starting a new life together, but everything failed and he must feel like shit right now.”

Judging by the physio’s words, the story wasn’t a secret at all for the team, his brain was filling up with questions, and he tried the gather more information from the talkative man.

“So everybody knew… Didn’t that affect to the team?”

“It was a bit awkward at the beginning but both of them were mature enough to handle the situation like true professionals. Their personal lives started the moment they left the pitch. They had to endure some jokes from the team, but everybody was happy for them.” The man replied, massaging Antoine’s legs.

Antoine tried to imagine the situation and he could understand the awkwardness into the locker room, but at the end of the day, nobody should care who you are sleeping with, and it doesn’t change who you are or your performance level.

“Didn’t the coach say anything to them? Wasn’t he concerned about the team dynamics?” Antoine continued with the questions, expecting to not look too curious.

“As far as I know, he kept a personal private talk with them. When he realized the sincerity of their feelings, he decided that the worst thing he could do, was interfering in their relationship. He made them promise that whatever problem they could have on their personal lives, it wouldn’t translate into the pitch.”

Antoine nodded, he was surprised at how tolerant Simeone was. He thought he’d be angry in a situation like that, but it seems he was pretty reasonable. That made him feel relieved, now he knew that if someone in the team got to knew about his sexuality, nobody would judge him.

“And was it the first time something like that happened on the team?” Asked Antoine, waiting nervously for the answer.

“Since we’re the coaching staff I think it was. We don’t know about everybody’s lives of course, but a big part of the team are married with women or have girlfriends.”

Antoine was glad to see that the coaching staff wasn’t nosy, it just was that Tiago and Filipe were probably too obvious.

“Thanks for the interesting story. Should I keep it quiet?”

“Well, everybody knows about it, but maybe Tiago won’t be happy if he knows I’ve told a newbie, so be careful.” Replied the man finishing the massage.

 If Antoine was good at something, it was at keeping secrets.


	6. Chapter 6

After another long day Antoine was chilling in his room. He was listening to some French hip-hop, which ironically enough, made him feel quite relaxed. Meanwhile, Koke was on Skype talking to his brother. 

At some point of the conversation, he grabbed his laptop and walked to Antoine’s bed. He made a sign to Antoine to remove his earphones. Antoine obeyed.

“Hey Grizi, my brother wants to say hi, he admires you so much.”

Antoine smiled and nodded, Koke sat on his bed next to him, placing the laptop in front of them so his brother could see them. Antoine couldn’t help but feeling a bit nervous at how close Koke was, his legs brushing softly. 

“Hey Antoine, this is Borja, nice to meet you! Man, you’re so talented!” 

“Hello Borja. Thank you very much. Your brother talks about you the whole time so it’s almost like I already met you before.” Antoine greeted him. Koke blushed a bit.

“Hope my brother is treating you right.” Continued the older man. “If he’s not, just tell me and I’ll crush him!”

“This is not fair!” Whined Koke half-jokingly.

“To be fair he’s bullying me a bit…” Joked Antoine, he could see Borja raising an eyebrow so he continued quickly. “I’m only joking, he’s being a fantastic roomie.” 

Koke smiled triumphantly. “See? You should trust your younger brother a bit more.”

Antoine ruffled Koke’s hair with his hand to make him shut up.

“Wow, that’s a sick tattoo man!” Koke’s brother exclaimed. Antoine was shirtless and the tattoos on his right arm were clearly visible.

“Thank you! They hurt a bit, but they were so worth it! They remind me of my loved ones.” He commented shyly. 

“Kokito, you should do the same, you don’t even care about us that much or what?” Borja picked on his brother. “You’re too scared of needles anyway.” 

Koke folded his arms across his chest and pouted like an angry kid. “Enough! I don’t need you to team up against me!” His features relaxed one second later. “See ya Borja, take care of Romeo, byeeee!” And he finished the call.

“Your brother seems like a great guy.” Antoine pointed out. 

“Yeah he is. Did you know he was also an amazing player? He used to play for Atleti when he was a teenager, everybody says that he was ten times better than me. But he suffered a nasty injury and he had to quit.” A trace of sadness reflecting on his voice. “But he coaches little kids now and he’s happy to continue in the football world.” He added with a positive tone, shrugging his shoulders. It was obvious that Koke’s natural state wasn’t sad or angry.

“I’m glad he found his way. Sometimes we just find a...”

Koke unpredictably turned to Antoine and interrupted him. ”Let me see those sick tattoos!” He blurted out.

Without even receiving an answer, he grabbed Antoine’s arm and started inspecting carefully the ink. With his finger he traced the images trying to figure them out, tingling Antoine’s skin.

“What do they mean?” He asked, still looking at the different tattoos.

“Some of them are religious, some others are inspiring words, and the rest are just about my family… I’ve got inked my brother and parents’ initials.”

And even though Koke wasn’t a Nobel prize, he could notice that there was four letters instead of just three. And he had to ask, of course he had to ask.

“So, who’s this fourth person then?”

Antoine tried to swallow the lump that formed at the back of his throat. He didn’t think he’d notice it. But he decided that being sincere was the only acceptable way to reply to that question.

“Well, that’s someone who used to be an important part of my life, but our relationship ended and I’ve not had the balls to remove that tattoo from there even though It’s been over for a while.” He sighed.

Koke threw an arm around his shoulders and squeezed him gently, patting his shoulder and smiling to him. “Come on! I bet you’re super brave, but maybe it’s not just the right moment for you to remove that capital “I” from there...” Koke went silent for a few seconds and then continued “...Irene?”

“What?!” Antoine asked confused.

“Let me guess!... Isabel?” He kneeled on the mattress excitedly. 

“Koke we’re not...”

“Inma!” Koke continued his stupid game not caring about Antoine’s obviously uncomfortable body language.

“I just don’t want to..:”

“Itziar! That’s a basque name! I bet she had a basque name!”

Antoine closed his eyes tightly, like trying to block the situation out, he just wanted him to stop, he didn’t want to talk about it, and he knew it wasn’t going to end well.

“Iratxe!” Koke exclaimed.

“Iñaki! The motherfucking name was Iñaki, ok?” Antoine blurted out quite irritated.

Koke finally shut up and opened his eyes widely. “But... Iñaki is…” He pronounced the words slowly, like if he was adding two plus two for the first time in his life. He stood there, with his mouth half open. 

“...a male name. We dated for two years. Only my family and close friends know about this. I trust you to not tell…” Antoine asked, a bit of desperation painting his words.

Koke nodded frantically. “I’m so sorry I made you talk about that. I’m such an asshole, I bet you didn’t want to tell anybody. Please forgive me!” He begged with the palms of his hands touching each other. His face was the one of someone who knew he had messed up and didn’t want to lose his friend this early.

“I don’t forgive you...” Antoine said, Koke’s mouth fell open in horror “...because you didn’t do anything wrong. The fact I don’t want to tell people I’m gay it’s not your fault.”

Koke’s panicked face relaxed a bit and he let out a big sigh of relief. His left hand resting against his chest while he was gasping for air. 

“I won’t tell anybody if that’s what you want, I promise. Even though nobody on the team would side-eye you because of it, just letting you know.”

Antoine appreciated Koke’s efforts to make him feel better and he let out a shy smile. “I prefer keeping it quiet for now.”

“Are… we good, Grizi?” Asked Koke quite scared.

“We’re good... Kokito.” He replied with a cheeky grin, using the nickname Borja used.

And even before he could register it, Koke had tackled him, hugging him tightly on his bed. Antoine didn’t even care about Koke’s weight on him, giving him trouble to breathe, because he felt really supported by his friend. His warm embrace was all he needed in that moment.

“I’m here for you, ok?” Koke whispered into his ear, squeezing him a tiny bit more. 

Antoine’s heart melt a little.


	7. Chapter 7

It had been a restless night for Antoine. He couldn't stop thinking that he had just come out as gay in front of the worst possible person. 

He highly doubted of Koke’s ability to keep such a secret to begin with, but that wasn’t the part that troubled him the most. His main problem was that now that Koke knew that he was into guys, he needed to be even more careful with showing his growing feelings for him. He didn’t want Koke to see that he had thought about him as more than a friend, because that’d make him lose him for good.

So there he was, lying on his mattress hugging his pillow, the sheets full of wrinkles and his brain working at full capacity.   
He looked at his side and saw Koke peacefully… in a comma, probably. He envied him so much for that ability of his. 

‘So close yet so far’ he thought. He would have loved to join his friend on his bed and sleep with him. Just that, just sleeping. To have one of his toned arms wrapped around his chest, and his calm breathing gently tickling his skin while he slowly dozed off, feeling embraced and protected. 

Oh God, he was so lost. 

He was half-happy that the training camp was coming to an end, and he’d only see Koke during training sessions, trips, matches... And even though that was a lot of time, it was reduced drastically from what they had now, and most of the time they’d be accompanied by the rest of the teammates, so they wouldn’t have these kind of intimate moments, that were hurting Antoine so much. 

Of course he enjoyed Koke’s company. It was probably his favourite thing since he arrived in Madrid. But it was doing messed things to his heart, and it just couldn’t end up well. 

He checked his phone. It was still 5AM and his alarm clock would ring in two hours. Two long hours. He woke up and went to the bathroom to drink some water. It was a really hot summer night and he hadn’t got used to Madrid’s dry weather yet. The heat was sharper than in San Sebastian, and it gave him so much trouble.

The bathroom door was knocked three times and the sound scared him a bit, he wasn’t expecting that. 

“Grizi... I need to pee!”

Well, that was new. Koke awake in the middle of the night. His voice sounded raspier than usual.

Antoine opened the door and found his friend leaning against the doorframe, with his hands covering his eyes, which were still half-closed, protecting them from the bathroom’s light. He was only wearing his black underwear. The fact that his arms were raised covering his face, was allowing a very nice view of his chest and abs. Not that Antoine was staring or anything.

“Come on in.” Antoine said, biting hard on his lip. When Koke walked past him, he turned around unconsciously to check on his ass. ‘No no no’ His brain told him, and he quickly came back to his bed. He could feel he was sweating again, and this time it wasn’t the weather’s fault.   
He liked everything about Koke, not only his body, which being a footballer it wasn’t very different to the rest, but it was his personality what was doing the trick for Antoine. How nice and friendly he was, how supportive he showed to be, and how innocent he seemed.

He noticed that Koke had left the bathroom door wide open. At least his sleepy brain didn’t care about having a gay roommate who could potentially stalk him. It was nice for Antoine to see that things hadn’t changed despite of his big revelation. Maybe he was just overthinking everything and as Koke said, nobody would care too much about his sexuality. 

Koke flushed the toilet, washed his hands, turned off the bathroom light and came back to his bed. Tripping over Antoine’s bed in the process.

Antoine let out a tired laugh. “Are you even awake or you’re just sleepwalking?”

“Are you laughing at me?” Asked Koke yawning, falling into his mattress.

“Why not? You’re unintentionally funny.”

“Hmmm… You’re too awake for being the middle of the night.” Koke said snuggling his face in his pillow. “When did you wake up?”

“I’m not sure, I’m just not sleeping well.”

“Am I snoring?”

“Yeah, like a monster!”

Koke lifted his head from the pillow ready to apologize but then a few of his brain cells woke up. “Liar.” He finally said, burying again his face on the pillow.

“Come on, go back to sleep!” Antoine said, feeling guilty of keeping him awake.

It probably took Koke only half a minute to reach his deep-sleep state again.

 

The next morning was hell. Keeping the pace at Atleti’s training was already difficult, but for sleep-deprived Antoine it was just impossible.  
He had lost in every single silly game the coaches had prepared. Sometimes all by himself, sometimes alongside other players. The last one of them with Koke. 

Not only they had to endure their teammates jokes but also the coaches had decided that they had been such a disaster, they’d get a punishment. They had to pick up all the stuff they had used for the games, while everyone else went back to the residence. 

“Is this normal? I swear this is some kind of exploitation!” Antoine grumbled.

“Pick up the strings and hops, I’ll move all the weights.” Replied Koke not paying much attention to him. 

That was far from being a fair work division. The hops and strings were light and easy to move, the weights were quite heavy and there was a bunch of them. 

“Kokito, I’m thin, and you can bet I look fragile and cute, but I think I can deal with moving those weights around.” Antoine joked. “Besides… we lost because of me.”

“We’re a team, we both lost.” Said Koke, picking a weight up.

Antoine sniggered, Koke was so into the team dynamics, that he was dead serious talking about silly training games. 

“Come on! If I help you, it’ll take us half the time and you won’t get that tired.” Antoine complained like a little kid.

“We’re not discussing this Grizi…” He paused, walking to his friend and carrying the weight in his arms. “Don’t get me wrong but… you look like a zombie.” he said in the most tender way.

“Fuck you Resurección.” Antoine growled. He knew it was true though. After a sleepless night and an Atleti training in a row, ‘zombie’ was probably a compliment.

“I’m serious, you’ve slept poorly, you shouldn’t be doing all this work. Go back to the room and get some sleep.” Pleaded Koke. 

His concern was adorable. He didn’t care about getting an extra workout picking everything up if it allowed his friend to run free.

“If you don’t want me to help you, that’s fine. But I’m not leaving the pitch until you’re done. We’re still a team, remember?” Antoine said folding his arms across his chest. 

Koke sighed, he knew it was a lost battle. “Ok, you win.”

Antoine grinned at him and Koke rolled his eyes, continuing the work. He picked up all the small weights first and left the heaviest ones for last. Then he proceeded to move them one by one, emitting small grunts at the effort. When he was almost done, one of the weights slipped from his sweaty hands and landed on the ground loudly. It scared the hell out of Antoine.

“Jesus Koke, are you ok! Please tell me it didn’t land on your feet.” Exclaimed Antoine alarmed, running to his friend.

“It was close, but I’m ok.” Sighed Koke in relief.

“You stubborn bastard!” Shouted Antoine punching his shoulder. “You’re not moving a motherfucking weight more without my help, got it!?” He threatened. 

“Ow! Stop bullying me!” The younger man replied, rubbing the spot Antoine had just punched. He saw his blue worried eyes and he understood that he was not joking. “Fine! We’ll do it together!” He replied with a defeated gesture.

“Holy shit Koke, can you even imagine how much of a disaster this could have been?” Continued Antoine, picking the weight up.

“Yes Dad. Sorry Dad.” He replied nonchalantly.

Antoine glared at him. “Shut up, asshole!”

They put the last weight down. “Are you always this sweary when you’re stressed?” Asked Koke with a funny smile, picking on poor patient Grizi. “I like it!” He said nodding with a cheeky face.

“Considering that I really want to kick your ass right now for being such a carefree guy yeah, you really should like that I’m only swearing.” He replied fuming, turning around and walking back to the residence.

“Awwww, you were so worried!” Koke ran until he had reached Antoine. “Come here my troubled friend!” He exclaimed forcing Antoine into a tight hug. “I really appreciate your concern, you know that, right?” He continued, breaking the hug and grabbing Antoine by his shoulders, his grip was solid. “But stop worrying so much about everybody and think about yourself. Be selfish! Do what you want to! Don’t think about what-ifs. Relax man! Go with the flow…” He shook Antoine by the shoulders, trying to emphasize every sentence.

Koke’s speech was so damn disjointed, but so fucking true, Antoine thought. His worst enemy during the first days at Atleti training camp had been himself. His mental strength was weaker than he had expected and overthinking everything wasn’t helping him at all.

He looked into his friend’s huge brown eyes. “I just wanna… be me.” He whispered, not sure if he was making any sense. 

“Ok... You start being ‘me’ with me. And then you’ll be able to be ‘me’ around everybody else. That way the transition will be hella easier for you. Deal?!”

He sounded way too excited to say ‘no’ to him. 

“Deal.” Replied Antoine shyly, thinking about how he could never be completely himself in front of his crush. Not that Koke would ever know.

Koke wrapped his right arm around Antoine’s shoulders contentedly and planted a kiss on his left temple. Antoine wrapped his left arm around his waist and leaned his head on his friend’s shoulder, his heart melting a bit. 

They kept the embrace until they reached the residence. Godin was waiting for them by the door. “Wow, get a room!” He joked, seeing the intimate position between the two boys.

Antoine tensed up a bit, not knowing what to say. Did he know? Was he that obvious?

“That’s exactly what we’re going to do.” Replied Koke, flashing a smug grin at him and tightening up his hold around Antoine’s shoulders. “Try to not get too jealous.” He winked.

They walked past Diego who was laughing at Koke’s words. “I’ll try to live without you Kokito! But I still have so many mates to share with Grizi so don’t be so clingy.” 

“I told you to not get jealous.” Koke replied from the lobby. 

Antoine couldn’t suppress his laughter at the scene. Koke ruffled his hair giggling and both got lost in the residence’s corridors.

Suddenly being besties with Koke didn’t seem such a bad idea after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I want to thank you all for all the kudos and comments. They motivate me to keep on writing :)  
> Hope you like the new chapter!


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one isn't very long but it's very necessary. You'll understand why very soon.

The training camp had finally come to an end and the team now would continue the preparation in the usual training area, that meant that the players would finally be able to sleep in their homes and they wouldn’t breath Atleti twenty four hours a day.

Antoine was happy of having the chance to enjoy his new home and he decided that throwing a party before having all his stuff placed was the best idea. Nobody would trash his house if there wasn’t anything to be trashed.

He had invited all his teammates and their couples but nobody from the coaching staff in case things got a bit awkward. He also asked their teammates to not bring their kids as there would be booze and loud music, and he had hired a catering business so nobody would drink on an empty stomach. Everything was perfectly planned to cause a good impression on his teammates.

 

A few minutes into the party he noticed that Atleti was a big family even in this kind of social gatherings. The wives and girlfriends chatted like they were old friends and everybody seemed to enjoy the music. There were dancy people and there were more quiet individuals, nobody complained about the food and the atmosphere was quite nice.

He was looking at the improvised dance floor and gosh, this team had so much potential. Saul and Mario were doing a dorky dance, thinking they were the best dancers ever and their girlfriends were looking at them clearly embarrassed. It was a shame both of them were taken because they were just so beautiful and cute, Antoine thought.

On one side he could spot Gabi giving parenting advice to Josema, who was only nineteen but he was already a Dad. Josema was listening to the advice but he was all the time looking out of the corner of his eye to the dancefloor, Antoine smiled because he noticed how Josema wanted to join so much the stupid dance competition.

On another side Mandzu and Oblak were refilling their drinks. They spent a lot of time together not only because they were newbies, but also because both of them spoke English, Arda also joined them, even if his English was far from perfection.

In one corner, Siqueira was trying to cheer Tiago up telling him jokes in Portuguese, he wasn’t succeeding so far, but he was really trying.

And the rest of the people were forming little groups just talking and following the beat of the music.

Antoine decided it was a good moment to act like a proper host by asking everybody if everything was fine but even before he could open his mouth, he got tackled by Saul who kidnapped him shouting “Join us Grizi!” and grabbing his arm.

Some horrible reggeaton song was playing and their attempts to twerk were really really terrible. Mario was trying to gyrate his hips but it didn’t look sexy at all, it almost looked like he was an old man getting used to his new prosthetic hip. Saul was shaking his ass and everybody was cheering him. A good part of the rest of the people had formed a circle around the dance floor and were clapping and laughing at the spectacle. Antoine was feeling a bit uncomfortable. He didn’t really know how to dance, and he wasn’t drunk enough to let himself go. The fact that two of the hottest people of the team were rubbing their bodies against him wasn’t helping at all and he tried to sneak out a few times, but when he reached the circle of people, someone would always push him back inside.

Two songs later he was still trapped and he couldn’t believe nobody had noticed that he wasn’t enjoying it. People were probably too drunk to see it. That’s the moment when Koke joined them and after doing a poor effort at dancing he said something into the ears of Saul and Mario and magically he made them stop.

Antoine was wondering what kind of key words he had pronounced until he could hear Mario shouting over the music “Pool Party!!!!” and he and Saul raced through his living room towards the garden, to end up jumping into the pool splashing water everywhere. People at the party laughed at the idea but they didn’t join them, their girlfriends facepalmed and Antoine sighed relieved.

The party continued in the garden for a few minutes more, until the Madrid summer night started to be too cold to be outside, and people decided to go back to their homes. Antoine offered some dry clothes to Mario and Saul but they declined, their houses weren’t too far away from there and they decided it really wasn’t that cold.

He got quite a lot of praise for the successful party and everyone left but Koke, who was waiting for him on the empty garden.

“You still here, thought you had left as well.” Said Antoine.

“Oh Grizi, you’re not paying attention to me!” Replied overdramatically Koke pretending to be hurt. “I thought that maybe you’d need a helping hand to tidy your place up."

Antoine looked at him raising an eyebrow. “Are you drunk? I’m not doing shit until tomorrow morning. But thanks.”

Koke laughed. “Ok, then I can…” And he ran towards the swimming pool jumping into it.

“Oh my God! You’re crazy!” Antoine screamed in horror.

“Come on Grizi, you really want to.” He teased, splashing some water to where Antoine was. “It’s actually warmer in here than outside, it’s pretty nice.” He continued swimming slowly.

“Is this a twisted plan to make me get sick? Has Mandzu bribed you or…”

Koke smiled and floated calmly on the water. “Do whatever you want, but I think of staying here for a bit so you have three options: join me, look at me while I’m enjoying my night bath, or ignore me and go to bed.”

That fucker was more clever than Antoine had thought because those were really his only three options and he wanted to join him more than anything, but he was afraid of doing something inappropriate in his tipsy state. But then he thought about his friend’s words about being himself and enjoying more and the decision was made. He jumped into the swimming pool almost drowning Koke in the process.

“Holy shit, it’s so cold!” He said flapping his hands, staying in the spot.

“You’re supposed to swim or something.” Said his friend swimming towards the other end of the pool. Antoine followed him and even if it was a little bit less terrible, it was still too cold for him. “Are you shaking? What a baby!” Nagged Koke.

“Don’t piss me off Kokito or…”

“Or what?” Koke replied smugly.

Antoine pounced on him, and tried to submerge Koke’s head under the water, but his friend was stronger than him and he failed. Then they started a silly water fight between laughs and threats, shoves and hugs. They both competed to see who could drown the other, hugging the other by the shoulders, by the chest, by the neck, even by the legs. They were strong but gentle with each other, they for sure swallowed a lot of water and their heads would start to hurt, but they were having such a great time.

After a good five minutes they were both gasping for air. Antoine stared at Koke and loved his flushed face, his rosy cheeks, his slicked hair back and the water drops shining over his skin under the moonlight. He looked like some sort of Greek God. Koke was staring back at him panting, his chest moving quickly trying to inhale some fresh air, his eyes glowing and his mouth drawing a shy smile.

“Alright, I think it’s time for me to go.” Koke said abruptly stepping out of the pool. Antoine wanted to protest, he didn't want this to end, but a part of him _knew_ it was for the better.

He could see Koke’s wet body in its full glory. His clothes glued to his skin displaying his sculpted muscles, his white shirt letting him see through his toned body, and his jeans highlighting his amazing butt and his bulge. Now this was some view that he would store in his brain for his ‘alone time’ for sure.

Antoine offered a towel to him but he declined, saying that he’d jog to his home and he’d be there in less than two minutes. He waved goodbye and rushed to the main door.

As soon as Koke had disappeared Antoine ran to the bathroom, he started the shower and stepped in, letting the warm water run through his skin. The tingly sensation sent shivers down his spine and he started to think about how nice was to feel Koke’s strength on him. How unbelievable hot was to feel his tight grip restricting his movements. How heavenly felt having their bodies rubbing together.

He started to caress his growing erection and he imagined it was his friend doing it for him. His gasps resounding in his head, his smile recorded in his brain, and his touch burning his skin. It wasn’t long until he reached one of the bests orgams he could remember. He finished his shower quickly and went to bed while his body was still trembling.

He was still savouring the moment lying on his mattress, hugging the pillow and closing his eyes.

For the first time he didn’t feel guilty.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm slowing down a bit with the updates because I'm writing more but I don't have a lot of time, so I don't want to upload all the chapters I have in like 2 weeks and then stopping bc I've ran out of material and I don't want to make you wait 3 weeks for a chapter or something.  
> I currently have written 12 full chapters and I have ideas for a few more so I'll keep posting 1-2 chapters a week and I'll maybe increase the pace if I get to write down all the ideas I have.
> 
> All this said, I hope you're enjoying how the story is developing. As usual, I thank all kind of comments (suggestions, whatever).


	9. Chapter 9

“Oh hi, I was surprised when you called me, please come on in!” Tiago said in a cheerful tone, welcoming his visitor.

“Thanks for receiving me.”

“Not a problem, do you want a drink?”

“A beer would be great, thanks.”

Tiago went to the kitchen to serve two cold beers. “So tell me, what’s the reason of your visit?” He shouted from there.

“I… hmmm… how’s Filipe doing in London?”

Tiago peeked out from the kitchen. “Koke, you’re not here to talk about that, right? He’s fine though, getting used to the British… everything.” He said shrugging his shoulders.

The older man carried a tray with two beers and some chips and sat down next to Koke, who was looking at him quite absent-mindedly.

“Hello? Come on! Spill the beans. What’s bothering you?”

Koke swallowed hard. “I need your advice.” Tiago nodded and let him continue. “Well, it’s not actually for me, it’s… for a friend.”

“For a friend.” Tiago repeated the words slowly. “Ok, what’s the matter?”

“Well… my friend… he… well… he feels confused. He told me his issue but I don’t know how to help him so I thought of you.” He replied looking at his beer.

“Fair enough but… I can’t help if you don’t tell me what’s going on…” Tiago pointed out.

Koke took a sip of his beer and let it on the coffee table, then he continued. “It is… a quite new situation for him and it’s a bit difficult to talk about it because you know… it’s a tad personal.”

Tiago raised his eyebrows. “Well, I’m good at keeping secrets if that’s what’s worrying you.”

“Yeah, I know. I trust you, that’s why I thought of you.”

“So…”

“The other day my friend was having fun with a friend and they were joke-wrestling and well, he… felt... “ Koke went silent, whatever he was about to say was too much for him. 

“He felt…” Tiago said patiently.

“He felt his friend’s erection brushing against him.” Koke spit the words at the speed of light and then grabbed his beer again, his cheeks turning red.

Tiago almost let out a laugh but he tried to control himself, it was just so simple and easy and Koke was making a big deal out of it, it was so hilarious.

“And what’s the problem?” Tiago asked.

Koke looked at him confusedly, almost annoyed, he expected him to understand really quickly what the problem was. He was embarrassed enough already, he didn’t want to carry on.

“The problem is that… well, my friends’ friend is not gay, at least he’s not had any kind of gay relationships in the past and he’s never felt attracted to men before.”

“So this is about your friends’ friend now?” Tiago questioned with an amused look.

“Well, he’s also my friend.” Koke replied shyly.

“Ok, let me clear things up, so we have ‘Friend A’ who is totally not gay and who felt the erection of ‘Friend B’ who isn’t gay at all either, and now they’re both confused as fuck?” This was so funny for Tiago and he felt so guilty for being trolling Koke this way. 

“‘Friend A’ is gay though.”

Tiago opened his eyes wide. “Does ‘friend B’ know that ‘friend A’ is gay?”

“Yes, he does.” Koke stuffed a handful of chips into his mouth to divert the attention.

“Let me sum this up. You have a friend who is openly gay who was joking with another of his male friends and in the heat of the moment, the not-gay friend got a boner and now your gay friend feels confused because he doesn’t know if the boner is just a sign of his friend being gay as well?” Tiago tried to make sense but this was starting to make his head hurt.

“Yeah more or less, my friend is confused because he’s never felt any kind of attraction to another man and now he gets a random boner with a friend who happens to be gay and everything is quite new to him.”

“But the confused one wasn’t your gay friend?” Tiago pointed out cleverly. It was just so hard for him to hold back the laughter.

“I… I… actually talked to both of them so I have the two points of view.” Koke stuttered. “That's why both of them are confused.”

“Fair enough…” Tiago took a sip of his beer and smiled into the glass. “I guess the main issue here is that your probably-not-gay friend thinks that the boner wasn’t an accident.”

“What do you mean?” Asked Koke quite distressed.

“What I want to say is that accidental boners happen the whole time: when we sleep, when we see attractive people, when we receive a massage, when we’re happy, or just out of the blue. The fact that your friend it’s giving so much importance to it, is that he feels that it wasn’t accidental…” Tiago explained wisely.

Koke’s ‘deer caught on the headlights’ face was clearly visible, Tiago noticed it but he didn’t want to poke fun at him, even though he was dying to do it.

“I… I understand.” Muttered Koke looking into infinity.

“If your not-gay friend wants an advice, I’d tell him to not change the way he treats your gay friend. Maybe the natural reaction would be avoiding him to prevent all awkwardness, but that wouldn’t be good for their friendship. Time will tell about the true nature of his feelings, maybe he's gay, maybe he's not, but whatever it is he shouldn't make a big deal out of it, after all we're all humans. If you fall in love with a woman, with a man... it doesn't matter at all as long as you're happy. He shouldn't see the possibility of being gay as a problem or anything."

"Oh, don't get me wrong. He doesn't think that being gay is a bad thing. I guess he's just scared about... well... everything."

Tiago's heart was starting to feel warm, Koke looked like a lost kid who just needed to hold his Daddy's hand to feel better.

"Trust me, I know the feeling. When I first felt attracted for a men it was a bit confusing but I also felt that something was clicking right. I felt like a lot of things in my life started to fit together like puzzle pieces. But if I can define that moment of my life with a word, it'd be 'vertigo'. Anyways I'm so happy I found my true self and I wouldn't change it for anythng." Tiago smiled proudly.

Koke nodded and flashed a kind smile to him.

"And about your gay friend, he just should wait and see. If something has to happen between them, it will happen. Any of them should push themselves or put pressure on their shoulders, if there are growing feelings they'll continue growing. If there's nothing between them, it'll be obvious with time. So just tell them to relax." 

“Yeah that sounds about right, thanks a lot Tiago. I’ll tell my friends.” Replied Koke.

After the long chat with Tiago Koke came back home in a peaceful state, Tiago’s words had helped him a lot. He decided that the best thing he could do, was to not change his behaviour with Antoine. He was also pretty sure that Antoine hadn't noticed his boner so there wouldn't be any awkwardness between them. And if he stressed over it, it would be worse for the two of them.

Truth was that he hadn't stopped thinking about their water fight and the consequences. It was the first time in his life that he felt that something was beyond his control. Tiago was right about accidental boners but this time it wasn't like that, he felt that it was different. He was perfectly relaxed before Antoine joined him in the swimming pool, and a few minutes later he had a painful erection going on inside his tight wet jeans. It was like adding two and two. It seemed perfectly obvious to him but he couldn't find an explanation. He wasn't attracted to Antoine, he wasn't attracted to men so why was his body reacting like that? Why was his skin covered in goosebumps when thinking about it? Why had he felt so heavenly while taking care of himself when he got home that night?

He didn't have an answer for any of those questions and that was mindly disturbing to him. He loved to be in control of his life, why did it look like everything was starting to change?

\---

As soon as the door was shut Tiago ran to grab his phone.

“Fili? Oh my God you have to hear this. Kokito has a crush on another man! … Yeah! I know! He got horny with one of his buddies and now he’s confused as hell… I don’t know who's the other guy, but I swear if it’s someone on the team I’ll find out, he’s just so obvious…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> BOOM! :D
> 
> Hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it ;)


	10. Chapter 10

“Grizi, what a killer party! We need to have more of those!” Said Saul, working out in the gym.

“I’m surprised you remember anything about it.” Replied Antoine between laughs.

Saul opened his mouth to complain, but he decided against it. He wasn’t going to argue about how drunk he was because it probably was a lost battle. He continued lifting weights quietly.

Antoine side-eyed him with a cheeky smile. “Yeah, I had so much fun as well, you guys are crazy. Your girlfriends were mortified, you should have seen their faces!”

Saul left the weights on the floor and raised his head looking at his teammate. “As if you were a good dancer.” He replied folding his arms across his chest in an annoyed voice. Antoine flashed a grin at him and they continued their work-out.

They fell silent for a moment and Mario joined them. “Hey Grizi, you need to throw another party, it was amazing!”

Antoine rolled his eyes, he didn’t know the party had been such a big deal, but he smiled politely and thanked Mario for his kind words.

“I only missed more girls in the party…” Mario trailed off.

“What the hell Mario, you have a girlfriend!” Antoine reacted. “And she was there!”

Mario laughed shrugging his shoulders. “I’m taken, not blind. It’s always nice to see beautiful girls in a party.”

“They’re humans, not decorations.” Antoine replied a bit angry, he didn’t like that kind of comments.

“What Mario means, is that it would have been nice to bring some more friends to the party, as some of you are single...” Saul tried to redirect the conversation.

“That’s it!” Mario agreed pointing out at Saul. “Saul gets me!” He offered his hand for a high five but Saul was too concentrated in his excercise to pay attention.

“I don’t have friends in Madrid yet, but let me tell you that if I had them, the last two people I’d introduce to them, it’d be you two.” Antoine joked.

“Oh come on! We’re harmless. Mario has a big mouth but he’s not a bad guy. And I’m a great guy too!” Saul pointed out, flashing a smug smile.

The three of them started their static bike circuit, and a few players joined them. Koke sat next to them.

“Koke will agree with us!” Mario exclaimed.

Koke wasn’t paying attention at their conversation at all and he was quite lost, showing a puzzled face.

“About the party.” Saul explained. “We were commenting on how nice would have been to have some more girls in the party.”

“Hmmm I guess.” Koke replied mind-absently.

“Kokito, it’s about time you get a girlfriend. I’ve not seen you with anybody in ages.” Saul continued.

Antoine raised an eyebrow and was waiting for more information from Saul, at least his big mouth could be useful for once.

Koke pulled a face, he didn’t want to talk about that, not here, not now, and not in front of Antoine.

“I was... what? Fifteen? When you were with that beautiful girl from your neighborhood. She came to all of our home matches. What happened to her? After a few months she disappeared! You were cute together.” Saul continued.

Koke couldn’t believe that Saul and his huge mouth had exposed him like that. He didn’t like to talk about his personal life much, but he hated when it was other people who talked about it. Saul was lucky to be his friend because otherwise Koke would have wanted to punch him.

Antoine was analyzing all of Koke’s facial gestures. He was deeply disappointed that his “old relationship” was with a girl, but he was half expecting that, so it didn’t change things that much. He could notice how uncomfortable his friend was, his body language gave it away. He was grabbing the bike firmly, his knuckles turning white. He was sweating way too much for the soft pace he was carrying. And last but not least, he looked at Saul as if he wanted to murder him.

“Yeah Koke, what happened? I’ve always wondered too!” Mario asked, not helping.

Koke emitted a deep sigh. “Well, she cheated on me with an older guy. End of.” He replied clearly irritated.

Everybody noticed his irritated tone so they dropped the conversation there and they continued talking about trivial stuff. When they finished their circuit, they paired up to continue with the weightlifting. Mario with Saul, and Koke with Antoine.

“You didn’t want to talk about that, right?” Antoine asked discreetly while he was helping Koke out with the weights.

Koke finished his exercise, put the weights away and looked at Antoine with a soft expression. “I never want to talk about that.”

Antoine would have hugged him at that point, but it would have looked awkward in front of the rest of the teammates. Koke felt beyond annoyed about that particular subject for unknown reasons and Antoine wasn’t going to be the one disturbing him.

“Sorry for asking, I didn’t want to bother you.” Antoine apologized sincerely.

Koke cracked half a smile. “It’s not your fault Mario and Saul are two idiots. They’re my friends, so they’re technically ‘my idiots’ and I can’t stay mad at them, but sometimes I’d duct-tape those mouths of theirs.”

Antoine laughed and carried on with the work.

After a long session all of them were done and they started to shower and get ready to go back home. The locker room emptied as Koke was checking his phone. Antoine sat beside him and started to put on his shoes.

He was busy tangling his shoelaces when Koke unexpectedly broke the silence. “She didn’t cheat on me.”

Antoine raised his face and looked at Koke, who was looking at the infinite, his elbows lying on his knees. “Koke, you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to, it’s personal. I understand.”

Koke shook his head. “It was me who ended it.” He continued. “I felt like we were good friends but I didn’t enjoy that step further in our relationship. I wasn’t comfortable with the intimacy between us, it didn’t feel right. So I ended it before it reached a point of no return.”

For the first time Antoine could see Koke in a different light, he seemed… mature? His words made so much sense to Antoine because he had felt what Koke was describing when he had a girlfriend during High School. He placed one of his hands on Koke’s shoulder and squeezed it gently.

“Why are you telling me this?” Antoine asked. He was practically new to Koke’s life and he was already telling him about something even his friends didn’t know about. It was strange to begin with.

Koke raised his eyebrows but he didn’t reply. He didn’t even know the answer to that. He just trusted Antoine enough to tell him. He patted Antoine’s knee and smiled.

Antoine never got an answer, but he understood that Koke was thanking him for the support.  
After another gentle shoulder squeeze he stood up and waved before leaving.

He said goodbye to Tiago who was putting his clothes on in the other side of the locker room, next to the door.

The older man was smiling softly. _He knew_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A short one today but don't worry, I've written quite a lot in the last week and I hope to update the fic more often now. 
> 
> Enjoy!


	11. Chapter 11

Weeks had passed and everything was slightly better for Antoine. He could feel himself improving at trainings, he had already played a few friendly matches with the team and he was still finding his place but the sensations were good.

The coaching team had explained to him what was their plan about him and he’d get minutes step by step. They thought it was soon to make him play full matches and Antoine understood, he was still a physical step or two away from his teammates.

The relationship with everybody was good. He felt more attached to the younger players because they had similar interests, and he also felt close to Godín, who acted like some kind of older brother.

His relationship with Koke was still something special. He craved the alone moments with him because he could see more of the ‘other Koke’. The one that wasn’t all jokes and silly things. He loved both parts of his personality, seeing both of them made him understand him better.  
It seems that the one being ‘me’ in their alone time it was Koke instead of him.

He also found himself strangely calmer since he knew about Koke’s ex-girlfriend. It’s like he took off a huge pressure off his shoulders. Now he knew Koke was out of his reach so he didn’t have to overthink things and he just could behave normally around him. Of course it was awful to have such a crush on someone who would never look at him in the same way, but at least he could now try to move on, the crush surely would disappear with time.

 

The most important moment of the season so far had arrived. The second match against Real Madrid in the Spanish Super Cup. It was Antoine’s first match at Vicente Calderón, his new home, and they could win the first Title of the season.

He was lucky Simeone trusted him to start alongside Mario Mandzukic. And he was lucky that both of them created Atleti’s first and only goal, the one that made them win. He could feel the electricity in the air. Everybody commented on how Atleti’s Stadium was something else, and Antoine could see why. He also understood the magnitude of winning this first Title against Real Madrid, which was Atleti’s historic rival.

When the match ended he couldn’t stop jumping up and down hugging his teammates. He loved playing for Real Sociedad but they never played important matches so winning the first one at Atleti was a big deal for Antoine.

In celebrations like this one he could see this team was a big family. Everybody hugged everybody. The coaching staff was mixed with the players, the players were thanking the supporters, they were one.

When they reached the locker room Simeone congratulated them all and also reminded them that the next match was only three days away so they had to be quite calm about the celebration. They all understood and decided that a big dinner would be good enough.

 

It was past midnight when the dinner was over and they were back to their homes, they had to train in the morning. Koke drove Antoine to his home as usual because Antoine was still a bit scared of Madrid’s roads and Koke always offered him to go in his car.

“Wow, this has been an amazing night. I envy you all so much!” Antoine exclaimed.

“Envy us? Why?” Koke asked stopping the engine.

“You won the league last season, I bet that was one crazy celebration after so much hard work. And you are like a family, so the celebration was probably even better.”

Koke smiled, he remembered last season as a dream. He didn’t know when they could repeat that, maybe it was impossible so he had enjoyed every minute of it. “Yeah, I hope we can get something that big really soon.”

Antoine smiled and nodded, he was dying to have a moment like that.

“So… I don’t know about you but I’m not that sleepy so... would you like to have a drink or something?” Antoine asked right away.

Koke tilted his head to one side. “Hmmm ok, it’s not that late anyway.”

Antoine was so happy for that answer, he really wanted to spend a bit of time with Koke all by themselves.

He opened the door and everything looked so different to before, now he had all his furniture placed, his photos, his memories, his trophies. Everything had its place.

Koke made a sound of approval and walked around the living room for a bit. A few minutes later Antoine joined him handling a glass to him, Koke took a sip and it took him five seconds to start coughing. “Jesus Grizi, do you want me to get drunk or what?” He shouted looking at the glass as it contained some kind of poison.

“Come on, it’s an exclusive French liqueur that I have only for very special moments.” Antoine pleaded pouting a bit.

Koke couldn’t do anything against that face. It was a lost battle, so he took a second sip and swallowed the liquid that was burning his throat. He coughed again in the process and Antoine laughed.

“I didn’t know you were so weak!” He teased.

“I’ve never been a heavy drinker. Beer and wine are more my thing, but I’ll drink this for you, so you better appreciate it.” That probably was emotional blackmail and Antoine accepted it, he had been the one who started to play dirty.

Both of them sat down in Antoine’s garden and started remembering funny moments of the dinner, they commented on some stories the other teammates shared. Between laughs they finished their glasses and decided to go back to the living room as it was getting chilly outside.

They switched the TV on and there was some kind of comedy show, they laid down in opposite sides of the sofa and started watching the show, their laughs echoing through the room.

At some point Antoine complained about how cold the room was and he went to grab a blanket wrapping himself with it. Koke laughed at him calling him a ‘burrito’ but Antoine ignored him and snuggled happily into his blanket. A few minutes later Koke’s teasing glances became jealous glances, that damn blanket looked so comfortable and he was freezing his ass out in that living room. But he couldn’t ask Antoine for another blanket because it would have been like accepting defeat, and Antoine would laugh at him for the rest of the night.

So they continued watching TV commenting on the show and mixing some random stories in their conversation and that’s when Antoine noticed. Koke was shivering, he had his arms folded tightly across his chest and his short sleeve shirt let him see the goosebumps in his arms.

“Someone’s freezing…” Sing-songed Antoine not making eye-contact with Koke. He received no reply so he teased again. “Man, I love this blanket so much, the fabric is so soft, and it’s so warm…”

“Fuck you.” Muttered Koke.

“Yeah, I wish.” Replied unconsciously Antoine. As soon as he had spit out those words he turned his face to Koke who was looking at him with a raised eyebrow.

They stared at each other in silence for a few seconds until both of them burst out laughing.

“Wow Grizi, you’re so hungry.” Commented Koke between laughs.

Antoine blushed and covered his face with the blanket. He was still laughing but he couldn’t look at Koke in the eye, it didn’t feel right to talk to him about sex.

When he heard Koke’s laugh fading away he peeked out the blanket to find his friend sitting right beside him and staring at him intently.

“Go away, you’re not stealing my blanket!” Exclaimed Antoine nervously, Koke was too close.

“I… have a question for you.” Koke said with a cheeky grin.

Antoine didn’t want to know what was it, because whatever it was, it had made Koke move from his side of the sofa to his, and now he was sitting only a few inches away, and paying a lot of attention to him, so it was for sure something private and he didn’t want to talk private stuff with Koke for obvious reasons.

“...But don’t reply if you don’t want to, I mean I’d understand it…” Koke added politely.

Now Antoine was a hundred percent sure that it’d be something really personal and he wasn’t ready. Koke had told him about his weird break-up with his ex-girlfriend and he probably had to answer Koke’s question out of politeness. Also because he was his friend, and friends trusted each other these kind of things.

“Have you ever…” Koke stopped for a second, as if he was finding the correct wording for his question. “...felt too happy in a locker room?”

Antoine looked at him puzzled, he had no idea why that question was so private to Koke but he replied anyway.

“Of course! When I scored that beautiful goal for Real against Lyon, the locker room was a party…”

“No no no no.” Koke interrupted him. “I’m not talking about that. I don’t mean happy happy, I mean… _happy_.” He said pointing discreetly a finger down to his crotch.

“Oh my God!” Antoine shouted scandalized. “I can’t believe you!” He said covering his face with his hands.

Koke shrugged his shoulders. “I think it’s a pretty valid question. We’re naked all the time in the locker room, you’re human, it wouldn’t be weird if you…”

“Jorge Resurrección you’re stopping right now! I’m not letting you drinking alcohol ever again!” Antoine said jokingly.

Koke shut up and inched closer to Antoine’s face, as if he was trying to read his mind. He focused on his blue eyes, which were staring back at him with a confused expression.

“Oh my God you have!” Koke blurted out. “I can see it in your face, you have ‘guilty’ written all over that cheeky smile!”

Antoine covered his face again, his cheeks turned bright red and he was starting to sweat a lot. Why was this happening to him?

Koke grabbed his hands and tried to push them away from Antoine’s face, he saw his flushed face and kept on teasing.

“Oh dear, how did you deal with it? Did anyone notice?”

“For fucks sake, how do you think I dealt with it?” Antoine finally answered.

Koke sniggered like a little kid with his hands covering his lips.

“And I don’t think anyone noticed, after all they didn’t know I’m gay.” He continued. “But don’t think I’m a perv who is sitting in the locker room just enjoying the view…” A hint of annoyance in his voice.

Koke stopped laughing, he had noticed the tone change.

“Oh no, I wasn’t suggesting that… I was just wondering if it was a thing that happened to you. I’m sorry!”

“Ok, it’s your turn, reply to this one. If you saw me in a situation like that in the locker room how would you react?” Antoine fired back.

Koke furrowed his brows. “I don’t know, I normally don’t look at people’s crotches… but if I noticed I’d probably just shut up about it, it’s something that just happens.”

“So it has happened to you too.” Antoine teased.

“What? No!” Koke rushed to deny it.

“Ha! I know that face Kokito. You’re lying!” Antoine said kneeling on the sofa and leaving the protection of his blanket for the first time.

“So what? Bodies do weird stuff at weird times.” Koke said blushing.

Antoine let out a high-pitched scream and punched Koke’s shoulder. “I’m sure it was my fault! I’m so hot nobody can handle it!” He said smugly, running his hands over his body.

Koke swallowed the lump at the back of his throat. He really didn’t know how to make the awkward talk end. He was kicking himself for starting it. So he grabbed Antoine’s blanket and ran away with it. Disappearing through the house corridors.  
“Don’t run away you coward rat!” Antoine shouted.

He pursued him until he got to his room, Koke jumped on the bed and landed on his belly, spreading his arms and legs until he occupied a good part of the bed.

“Ha! Now I got your bed and your blanket! What are you going to do now?”

“Me?” Replied Antoine calmly. “Join you. Try to stop me.” He continued in a defying tone.

Koke turned around his face to see Antoine, in fact, joining him on the bed, stealing a good part of the blanket and half-hugging him, all in a matter of seconds.

“I only hope you can resist my hotness during a whole night, the bathroom is right there if you need it.” Antoine whispered in the most teasing voice ever.

Koke thought that that sentence had sounded too hot for words. It had even made his cock twitch.

“Oh yeah, I’ll try to refrain myself hot boy.” Koke replied slapping Antoine’s butt softly.

Antoine squirmed a bit because he wasn’t expecting that, everything was just a hard-on bound to happen. The air was hot, there was electricity in the air, and his crush was lying only a few inches away from him. He could feel the sexual tension overloading the atmosphere.

“Good night Grizi!” Koke said with his raspy voice, kissing Antoine’s forehead and resting his lips there for a little too long.

“Good night Kokito!” He replied sighing contently.

Both fell asleep lying on their stomachs and maintaining a half-embrace. The soft blanket tangling his bodies together. Their breathings synchronizing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ooooh naughty boys ;)
> 
> Enjoy it!


	12. Chapter 12

The alarm clock rang and Koke and Antoine were lying in the same position in which they had fallen asleep.

Antoine woke up lazily and he stretched his hand to stop the clock. He wiggled a bit and noticed that his crotch was aching, pressed against the mattress. He had the most painful boner wishing him a good morning.

He panicked and thanked all the Gods for Koke’s deep sleep state. He hadn’t even flinched at the alarm clock sound and he was still peacefully sleeping.  
Antoine took advantage of those extra minutes until he would wake up and started to think how to deal with that without waking him up.

Jerking off right there discreetly wasn’t even an option for two reasons. The first one, was the too uncomfortable position of his body do it. The second one was, of course, that Antoine would die in the spot if Koke woke up and discovered him.

The second option was leaving the bed and running away to the intimacy of the bathroom. That was the most intelligent option but it had one difficulty. Koke was still wrapping his arm around his body so there were high chances of waking him up in the process.

It was too early to think properly so Antoine decided to leave that bed as quickly as possible and hope for the best.

He lifted Koke’s arm and looked at him. Nothing. He was still sleeping. He continued rolling his body carefully, moving away from Koke. He looked at him again. Still sleeping. Perfect.

When he was almost out of reach of Koke’s arm he decided to be brave and make a last swift movement which would set him free. He counted to three and then he rolled his body very quickly dropping Koke’s arm.

He was about to celebrate his freedom when he found himself near the edge of the mattress tangled in the blanket which wasn’t allowing him to move further. He turned around to find the blanket trapped under Koke’s body. Under Koke’s awake body.

Koke was sleepily looking at him with a confused glance.

“You woke me up!” He complained.

“Well you should have waken up when the alarm rang five minutes ago. Consider it your extra time.” Antoine snapped back thinking about a new plan. Damn it, he had been so close.

“What are you doing?”

“What do you think?”

“Man, you’re grumpy in the mornings, let me tell you.” Koke joked still confused at why Antoine was still on the bed but miles away from him.

“I’m trying to get out of here but you won’t let me.” He said, pointing at the blanket’s tip trapped under Koke’s body.

Koke looked at it and grabbed it with his hand, he arched his body and set it free. Antoine sighed relieved. His friend, still with the tip of the blanket on his hand said. “That’s because you belong here.” And tugged on it quite strongly making Antoine’s body roll to the original position. “See? It works!” Said Koke proudly, hooking his arm around Antoine’s waist again.

Antoine wanted to punch him on the face. How would he escape now without Koke noticing his boner?  
“Kokito, we can’t procrastinate forever. We have to go training today!”

“Hmmm, just five more minutes…” He replied nuzzling his nose against Antoine’s hair.

Antoine felt chills. The air Koke was breathing was tickling his scalp, and the hand Koke had placed in his waist, was drawing circles on his side. He felt so overwhelmed, he almost forgot about the boner for a moment.

“Are you always this cozy in the mornings?” He asked trying to put himself together.

Koke sniggered. “I’m always like this, not only in the mornings. I thought you had already noticed that. Does it bother you?” He asked, not moving an inch away.

“Not really.” Antoine played it cool.

Koke made an approval sound and then continued. “What time is it?”

“Half past nine. Training is at eleven o’clock.”

“Don’t stress, there’s plenty of time. We only have to get ready and have a light breakfast.”

“Yeah…” Muttered Antoine. He had something else in his plans, it wouldn’t take him long though. He was starting to think that if Koke continued the caressing-fest he wouldn’t even need that bathroom at all.

Koke’s hand withdrew Antoine’s side and it reached Antoine’s head. He started brushing Antoine’s hair with his fingers.

“Man, you need to tell me the shampoo brand you use, it smells like heaven… Hmmm so soft.”

Antoine laughed at Koke’s randomness, but he didn’t answer, he just felt too lost in the sensations to actually say anything.

Koke kept on playing with Antoine’s hair, twirling it in his fingers. “I like your hair so much, it’s so much better than mine.”

“What’s wrong about your hair? I think it’s fine.” Antoine replied raising his eyebrows.

“It’s just that it’s not as soft as yours. It’s also a bit curly so it’s a bit difficult to control when it’s longer.”

“Is this a trick so I start petting your hair or…?” Antoine joked.

“Oh no, it’s not that. I was just thinking out loud.”

“Come here.” Antoine said patiently, reaching a hand to Koke’s head. He started tangling his fingers on his hair and touched it softly, he scraped his nails lightly against Koke’s scalp and continued for a while. “Your hair is nice, don’t stress over it. You know what? My Mum used to dye my hair like I do now and all the kids at school kind of laughed at me for that, but I liked it so...”

A soft snore interrupted Antoine’s speech. He noticed that Koke had fallen asleep again, which was great for him so he now could escape from him and the blanket. However, he stayed there for a few instants just staring at Koke’s face. He looked so calm. He looked at peace with himself, his lips drawing a shy smile.

Antoine shook his head and untangled himself from the blanket, left the bed and went to the bathroom where he proceeded to take a cold shower while he was taking care of his boner.  
His soft moans got mixed with the sound of the water dripping. His hands ran expertly through his sensitive skin and wrapped his cock firmly, tugging it in a slow pace at first.  
He caressed his ass with one of his hands and rubbed his crack until one of his fingers was into his hole. He synchronized his movements, tugging his cock and fingering himself at an increasing rhythm. He added a finger or two more, he couldn’t even focus on how many of them because the sensations were too overwhelming. The cold water was falling on his oversensitive shaft, driving him close to the edge. He bit hard on his bottom lip to stop him from moaning loudly, which was what his body really wanted.

It was a matter of a minute or two, and he was emptying his load against the wall, his cum mixing with the water and disappearing. All his nerves were so on fire that even the water sliding over his body was making him feel uncomfortable, so he stopped the shower.  
His mind was still numb from the intense orgasm, but he was aware of the image that had occupied his thoughts during his private session. The same image that had been glued to his brain for the last couple of weeks. He tried to fight it, but it was a lost battle. Every time he tried to think about someone else, his mind came back to the usual suspect… That person lying on his bed.

 

He made some breakfast and came back to the room to wake Koke up. That impossible mission. He started shaking him softly by his shoulder and whispering some “come on, wake up” into his ear. He kept doing it for a while until Koke came back to this side of reality. He looked confused at first but as soon as he recognized Grizi, a smile appeared on his face, which, to Antoine’s eyes, looked like it was glowing and he couldn’t tell why.

“You can’t complain now, I gave you an overtime. Now let’s get ready before everybody kills us.” Antoine explained miming Koke’s smile.

Koke stretched his limbs and finally left the bed without saying a word. Just walking contently through the corridors following Antoine. They reached the garden where Antoine had displayed a little bit of everything on the table. There was orange juice, coffee, fruits, bread…

“Wow!” Koke exclaimed admiring the view. “Grizi, marry me! Now!”  
“You wish…” Antoine teased. “You would never find a husband as perfect as me.” He continued flashing a toothy grin to Koke, who was looking at him with a raised eyebrow.

“You know what?” Koke asked. “Now I get the whole ‘being me’ thing. Are you always a smug little shit?” He continued in a jokingly tone.

“Sometimes I’m worse…” He replied cheekily, grabbing a banana from the fruit basket and peeling it slowly not breaking the eye contact with Koke.

“Oh no, you’re not…”

Indeed he was. He started circling his tongue around the tip of the peeled banana, he stopped, licked his lips making a sound of approval and continued slowly, half-closing his eyes.  
Koke was staring at him in awe. Antoine was putting a show for him, and he was honestly enjoying it, even though it felt somehow wrong.

Antoine then deep-throated the banana until most of it had disappeared into his mouth, he then changed the direction of the movement and withdrew the banana from his mouth with a popping sound. He licked his lips again, enjoying the sweet taste, and then he bit ever so delicately the tip of the banana, he chewed it, swallowed it carefully and opened slowly his eyes to see Koke with his mouth open.

“You just didn’t…” Koke continued in disbelief, shaking one of his hands.

“What?” Antoine replied innocently. “I’m just eating fruit.”

“Yeah you surely eat watermelon like that too. In the next team dinner you should show everybody how you ‘just eat fruit’ I bet everybody does it like that actually.”

“You’re just jealous because you eat like a boring person.” Antoine teased still eating his fruit. “And remember, this is me being ‘me’ and I won’t be ‘me’ in front of the rest of the team, not yet.” He flashed a cocky smile.

Koke was jealous, he would admit, but maybe he wasn’t jealous of Antoine. Maybe he was just jealous of a piece of fruit. Was that even possible?

“So you always eat fruit around your friends like this?” Koke asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Only around the chosen ones…I don’t do this kind of stuff in front of everybody else. Consider yourself lucky.” He winked.

He actually didn’t know why he was doing this to Koke, but he wanted to test him. He wanted to study his reactions because he wanted to learn more about his friend. He wanted to see if Koke’s naturalness about Antoine’s sexuality was real or it was just a pose.

“Whatever… if you’re gonna take that long for a motherfucking banana, we’re gonna be so late for the training…” He replied, drinking a glass of orange juice.

And after studying his reaction he could tell that Koke was far from being uncomfortable. He had just witnessed something that could be quite uncomfortable for a good amount of people, especially people who don’t know you from a long time, but Koke wasn’t tense and it didn’t seem he was feeling awkward about it. He seemed… amused?

“Kokito, don’t swear!” He said sternly. His features relaxing half a second later while he poured himself a cup of coffee.

“I think I should go home to change clothes before leaving.” Koke thought out loud.

“I’m sorry but your snooze-fest took too long, grab whatever you need from my closet or don’t change at all, but we should leave asap.”

“Says the person who takes 10 minutes to eat a banana.” Koke joked shrugging his shoulders. “Ok I’ll borrow something from your closet.”

He came back five minutes later wearing one of Antoine’s favourite shirts ever. He used it quite often and he loved the fact that it was going to smell like Koke for a while. Even if that seemed quite weird.

“I think it looks better on me, don’t you think?” Koke teased grabbing the car keys.

Antoine rolled his eyes and didn’t answer.  
He agreed.


	13. Chapter 13

Antoine stopped the engine when he arrived to the airport, he tapped nervously the driving wheel while he was waiting for his sister. The last time they had seen each other was during the World Cup in Brazil, a few months before. She lived in New York and he could only visit her on his holidays. It wasn’t often that it was her the one visiting him, because when she could travel to Europe, she used to visit their parents in France, but this time she had decided to spent two days with her brother before heading to France.

He texted her his location as he didn’t want to go inside the terminal because it was always crowded. It wasn't a good moment to get mobbed by people because he was on a rush, he had the exact time to pick her up and go directly to the morning training and he was praying for her plane to land in time. 

A few minutes later his sister appeared through one of the doors, carrying her heavy luggage.

“Move your ass and help your sister!” She shouted in the distance.

Antoine left the car and ran to her, giving her a huge hug. 

“I’m so happy you’re finally here! I’ve missed you!” He said.

“I’ve missed you too honey, but you’re squeezing me so hard that I can’t breathe.” She joked.

He apologized and carried all her suitcases to the car. They got on the car and he drove away.

“Maud, I have to ask you a favor. I guess you’re incredibly tired after the long flight but I don’t have time to leave you at home before training. Would you mind to go with me?”

“Oh don’t worry, I’ve slept a few hours on the plane, and I would love to meet your new training mates. Are you sure I’m allowed there?”

Antoine meditated for a moment, he wasn’t totally sure but he didn’t have a chance. The other option would make him arrive late to the training and that would be really bad for him. 

“Yeah, people at Atleti are nice, I bet there won’t be any problem!” He shrugged his shoulders.

“Good. How these last weeks have been? Do you feel comfortable here?” She asked concerned.

“I’m feeling good. People are quite welcoming here, the guys on the team treat me like we’re old friends and the coach seems to understand me.”

Maud smiled, she was so relieved to hear that. It was the first time Antoine changed teams and she was afraid the change would be too much for him. Especially when he was all by himself in Madrid and he could probably feel a little lonely.

“That’s amazing! So you have new friends here…”

“We could call them friends, yes, there’s a bunch of them who are more like me and I get along better with them, it’s not that I don’t get along with the rest, but I’m just not that comfortable around them yet.”

“Well, that takes time, but it’s very good news that you already trust a few. Mom was worried, she thought you’d be alone the whole time.”

Antoine blushed a bit, he could never escape his Mother’s overprotectiveness.

“I’m shy but come on! Trust me, I’m not an antisocial guy!” 

 

They carried on talking about their family until they arrived to the training place, Antoine asked for permission and Maud was allowed to watch the training from the stands.

She watched carefully every Antoine move and she focused on the interactions of his brother with his teammates. It’s not that she thought that he was lying to her, it was just that she wanted to confirm that everything was fine.

She also hear the jokes between all the guys, the good atmosphere and also how physically demanding that training seemed. She appreciated how the coaching staff was correcting Antoine in some moves because that meant that they were paying attention to him.

The training was done and she waited for him for a while until he was showered and ready to go. 

“That was so much fun!” She exclaimed.

“Well, I appreciate that you like to see me half-dying.” Antoine replied between laughs.

“Shut up idiot, they’re going to transform you into a super-footballer, that takes a lot of effort, don’t be a cry-baby!”

“Whatever… Let’s go have some lunch before we head home.”

Maud was exhausted but she was here to spend time with her little brother so she wouldn’t complain, she also wanted to eat some tasty Spanish food so she couldn’t decline.

They went to a fancy restaurant which Godin had recommended to Antoine, it was discreet and the food was apparently very good. 

“You know what? I like how much everybody jokes with you! It’s like some of them went specifically to you just to goof around.” Maud said.

Antoine shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know, you probably saw it better from the distance. But yeah, I feel fine with them.”

They went silent for a while, only the sound of the cutleries against the plates broke it. Antoine raised his eyes from the food and looked at his sister suspiciously, he knew for a fact that whenever she went silent, she was up to no good. He found her looking back at him with a cheeky smile. ‘Here we go’ Antoine thought.

“So… your team has a lot of potential.” She said comically winking one eye.

Antoine rolled his eyes and didn’t say anything back. He let her continue.

“A bunch of them actually. I really liked a few of them…” She continued waiting for her brother to interrupt her, but that wouldn’t happen, Antoine was just trying to ignore her. “... ‘Prince charming’ was really hot, he seems like a serious guy but he’s pretty and has a wonderful smile.”

Antoine almost choked on his food. “Prince charming?” 

“Yeah, one of the goalkeepers. I also liked ‘yellow boots’ who had very interesting tattoos, ‘Calvin Klein’ who looked like a model, ‘unicorn’ who was super cute, and ‘smiley’ who joked a lot with you and was really goofy.” 

Antoine had dropped his fork and was looking at her with his mouth open. “Do you know how extremely embarrassing is this for me? On next training I will be thinking about your stupid nicknames, God I hate you!” He said dramatically.

“Is anyone of them gay?” She asked bluntly, playing with her food.

“Oh my God, stop it!” He said turning red. “Do you also realize that I don’t even know who you’re talking about, right?”

Maud laughed at her little brother for a while and decided to keep on teasing him. She missed this so much, she always teased him when they were together and she knew Antoine secretly enjoyed it.

“Do they know?”

“Do they know what?” Antoine asked tilting his head.

“Your preferences.” She said discreetly for the first time during the lunch. 

Antoine opened his eyes wide, he didn’t know if he should lie to his sister or if he should say the truth, but if he did, she would never shut up about it.

“They don’t, it’s very early, I just got here.”

“I understand. They seem the kind of people who would be fine with it.”

“I know but I prefer waiting a bit more.”

She nodded, she knew how difficult was for him to be open about his sexuality. His shyness was a big handicap for him for that kind of things, and being part of a sport with little to none openly gay stars didn’t help.

 

They finished their lunch and went to Antoine’s house. Maud pointed out how it still looked a tad empty but she really liked the house, especially the garden and the swimming pool. They shared more stories for a while and decided to facetime with their mother so she could see them together. 

Their mother was very glad to see them together, it didn’t happen very often, and she was also very happy hearing Maud saying how happy Antoine seemed in Madrid. Half an hour later they said their goodbyes and Maud asked Antoine to continue using his phone to send some texts as hers wasn’t working properly in Spain. He accepted and went to carry his sister’s suitcases to the guest room. 

Maud noticed how Antoine was receiving texts all the time from the same number so she decided to open the conversation to discover that whoever that person was, Antoine texted a lot to them. The chat had shared music, silly photos and they basically talked to each other everyday.

“Honey, who is this Koke?” Maud asked still scrolling down. 

Antoine came back to the room. “Sorry, I couldn’t hear you, what were you saying?”

“You’re receiving texts from Koke, who I guess it’s a man because it kinda sounds like a man’s name, even though it also sounds like a koala name to be honest with you." She rambled. "Who is he?”

“Oh he’s one of my teammates, you saw him in this morning’s training.” Antoine replied trying to seem completely chill about it.

“Hmmm… you chat a lot with him, but you see each other everyday right?” She continued, raising an eyebrow.

“Yeah we get along quite well, we like the same stuff, we’re always sending each other music and that kind of things.”

“Good, so he’s one of those people you told me you were closer to them?”

“I guess so, he lives nearby so we hang out quite a bit, I’d say he’s almost like a friend to me.”

Those were big words in Antoine’s lips, Maud thought, he needed to know someone very well before calling them ‘friend’.

“I don’t understand a word of Spanish, but I see a bunch of adorable laughing smiley faces. If he makes you smile so much I want to meet him!”

“Maud no! I don’t want to bother him!” Antoine said embarrassed. 

“Oh, that’s a shame… because I’m already calling him.” She grinned showing the phone screen to Antoine.

“Come here, hung up!” He said mortified, chasing her through the living room. 

She listened how Koke replied on the other side and she threw the phone to Antoine.

“Heeeey!” Antoine said with a fake enthusiastic tone almost dropping his phone. 

“Hey Grizi, what’s up!” Koke replied cheerfully.

Antoine covered the phone with his hand and whispered angrily to his sister. “What do I say now?”

“I don’t know, something that makes him come here?” She replied talking to Antoine as if he was completely dumb.

Antoine glared at her and thought quickly. “Oh it’s just that my sister is here visiting me and tomorrow I want to show her a bit of the city but I don’t know too many interesting places so I was wondering if you could advise us? But only if you're not doing anything important, I don't want to disturb you.”

Antoine was surprised at how brilliantly he had reacted. 

“Yeah no problem, I was just playing video games. In fifteen minutes I’ll be there, is that ok?”

“That’s actually perfect, thanks man!”

He hung up the phone still mad at his sister, he didn’t want her to see him interact with Koke, he would be so very obvious.

“So. What happened?” She asked impatiently.

“He’ll be here in a quarter of an hour, I told him that I want to show you Madrid and I need some recommendations.”

“Perfect! I’m so curious to know your very first Madrid friend. I hope he’s not a weirdo!”

Antoine glared at her again but he couldn’t stay mad at her for long because he loved her so much. 

He felt nervous because his sister was everything to him and she was about to meet the man that was making Antoine feel so special. He just needed them to get along well with each other.


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The cursive parts are supposed to be in French whenever there's another convo going on.
> 
> That's all you need to know, hope it's not very confusing :)

Almost twenty minutes later the doorbell rang and Antoine opened the door, Koke was there with a book under his arm. They shook hands and he went inside to find Maud waiting for him.

“Koke, this is my sister, Maud.”

“Hi Maud, nice to meet you.” He greeted politely.

_“Nice to meet you too, ‘smiley’”_ She replied in French. _“Gosh you were the adorable guy from this morning!”_

Koke looked at Antoine waiting for the translation, Antoine swallowed hard.

“She says that she’s glad to meet you too and she remembers you from this morning training.” He explained with a forced smile.

Koke smiled kindly to her. “So, did you enjoy the training?”

_“He wants to know if you enjoyed the training.”_ Antoine translated, frowning at her.

_“Oh my God Antoine, he’s so charming, I want to pinch his cheeks!”_ She exclaimed in a calm tone looking at Koke.

“She says that she had a great time and that we look like a big family.” Antoine replied cleverly, trying to act as normal as possible.

Koke nodded pleased, and showed them the book. “In this guide there’s a lot of useful info about Madrid: monuments, restaurants... maybe we should sit down to check it?”

“That’s a great idea, do you want a drink?”

“Just a glass of water, thank you.”

Antoine turned to his sister. _“I’m going to the kitchen… behave!”_ He warned her. She smiled at him mischievously.

Koke and Maud sat around the table and Koke opened the book which had a few of bent corners on some pages. He smiled awkwardly at her, not knowing what to say. Antoine came back with three water glasses and sat next to them, leaving Koke and his book between him and his sister.

“So, what do you suggest us?” Antoine asked pointing out at the travel guide.

“Well, it depends on how much time you’re going to spend sightseeing and what kind of stuff do you want to see.”

“I’d say that not museums because we won’t have that much time and we're not that interested in art. Maybe we should check pretty places to take beautiful photos and a good restaurant to have lunch at.”

“Ok.” Koke replied, turning some pages.

_“Awww look at him with his cute book trying to help us. Does he have a girlfriend?”_ Maud asked to Antoine placing her hands under her chin and flashing a grin to him.

_“Do you enjoy torturing me?”_ Antoine was looking back at her as if he wanted to murder her.

Koke raised his head and looked at them clueless. Turning his head to the two of them as if he was watching a tennis match.

“We were commenting on how little time we have tomorrow.” Antoine was surprised at how of a good actor he was.

“That won’t be a problem. Does she like nature?” Koke reacted.

_“He wants to know if you like nature.”_

_“And I want to know if he has a girlfriend… or a boyfriend.”_ She replied with a cheeky smile.

As Koke was looking at her, he missed how Antoine was turning bright red at his back.

_“He doesn’t!” Antoine replied quickly._

_“Ohhh you know too well, you two have talked about this before, don’t you?”_ She continued looking at Koke with a nice smile, and imagining the embarrassed face Antoine was pulling.

“She really likes nature. She enjoys gardens, parks and all that kind of stuff.” He quickly replied so she would shut up.

Koke made an approving sound and buried his face on the book again. Meanwhile Antoine and Maud were keeping a conversation with their eyes. Antoine knew this was a lost battle and she would continue with the teasing forever.

Koke broke the silence. “You could go to Retiro park. There’s a big lake where there are rowing boats, it has a rose garden, a crystal palace, and a lot of trees... It’s our humble version of Central Park.” He said looking at Antoine flashing a warm smile.

Antoine smiled back at him. “Is it usually too crowded?”

“Well, tomorrow it's Wednesday, I think you’ll be fine.” He replied enthusiastically.

“That’s good, I want to spend quality time with my sister.”

“Oh you will. There will be runners, some tourists... but people mind their own business there, I think nobody will notice you.”

“Great, it’s a good plan, I knew I could trust you!” Antoine said placing his hand tenderly on Koke’s shoulder and giving it a gentle squeeze.

“I’ve lived here my whole life, it’s nothing special.” Koke replied humbly with a shy smile.

_“Are you two going to pay attention to me or I should go watch TV?”_ Maud interrupted them.

Antoine pulled an ‘oh shit’ face. He had genuinely forgotten her.

Koke laughed. “You should start translating, she seems impatient.” Antoine nodded.

_“He wants us to go to some park, it seems a nice place.”_

_“You should see how you look at him, honey. I bet your legs are trembling or something.”_ She said looking at Koke and smiling at him. Koke smiled back and turned his head to Antoine to hear the translation.

Antoine’s cheeks had turned visibly red. “She… she thinks it’s a really good plan.”

Koke smiled satisfied. “Good, do you want me to search something else?”

“I don’t know, let me ask her… _Maud, will you please stop embarrassing me today?”_

_“Why? Your tomato face is just so funny.”_ She said in an amused tone. _“You really like this guy, don’t you?”_ She asked turning a bit serious, even Koke noticed the change of tone because he looked at Antoine confused.

“She is a bit concerned about the heat.” Antoine said making a big effort to seem coherent.

“Oh yeah, it’s not the best weather to walk a lot. The other options are visiting the Royal Palace and its gardens.” He said signaling in a map on the book. “And Debod’s Temple to admire the beautiful landscape from there, but they’re quite far from Retiro park so with this heat you would need to take a taxi or something.”

“I think we’ll stay in the park then, can you search a good restaurant in that zone while I translate this to Maud, please?” He asked politely.

Koke nodded and once again focused on the maps.

_“Right now I should be translating but you don’t give a fuck, do you?”_

_“He’s super cute to you as well, I don’t understand a word of what you’re saying but he’s like really tender and pays a lot of attention to you, I’m genuinely jealous.”_ She said in a half-jokingly tone.

_“He’s my friend ok? And he’s not into guys, so can we drop it, please?”_

There was something on Antoine’s words that made really clear to Maud how deep he had fallen for his friend. She couldn’t stand the defeat on his voice tone. His brother deserved someone caring and kind like Koke seemed.

_“Oh honey, don’t give up, when he looks at you there’s a spark on his eyes, and he stopped what he was doing to come here to see you. Chin up!”_

Antoine showed a thankful smile. That was the kind of stuff he needed to hear, he wanted to listen how Koke wasn’t a lost battle and how he should never lose the faith.

“Here! Look at this, Grizi!”

Antoine focused in the restaurant photo he was signaling while he could hear his sister whispering in her worst cheeky tone.

_“Oh my heart, he uses your nickname!”_

“This looks perfect Koke, let me ask her… _I think we should let him go, don’t you think?”_ Antoine implored to his sister.

_“Yeah, we’ve bothered him enough.”_ Maud finally said, making Antoine sigh in relief.

“She agrees, thank you so much for your time and your suggestions Kokito.” Antoine said rubbing his arm. He could see Maud pulling a cute face when she heard Koke’s nickname. “We don’t want to bother you more.”

“Oh you know that you never bother me!” He said shrugging his shoulders and standing up.

The three of them walked towards the main door and stopped there.

_“Grizi I want you to seriously translate this to him, no tricks ok?”_ Maud said seriously while looking at Koke and grabbing one of his hands. _“Koke, I know you’re helping my little brother a lot, and I know you’re his biggest friend here, so I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for being such a big support for him in Madrid and for taking care of him.”_

Antoine blushed and translated it word for word, dying a little inside. Koke also blushed a bit listening to the nice words and let out a nervous laugh.

“Oh there’s nothing to thank me for, I enjoy being with him because he’s an amazing guy, I’m so happy he decided to join the team.” He said to her looking at Antoine out of the corner of his eye.

Once again Antoine translated everything correctly.

_“You’re so cute I wanna scream, come here.”_ She said giving a big hug to him. _“I hope you can be my brother-in-law someday.”_

"What did she say?" Koke asked innocently, squished by Maud's arms.

“She says that she hopes to see you again and it’s been very nice to meet you.” Antoine said rolling his eyes.

“Yeah, I’m sure we will see each other again! Have fun tomorrow and enjoy my city!” He replied cheerfully. He then shook hands with Antoine and left.

Immediately after closing the door Maud was dragging Antoine by the arm to the sofa where both of them sat down.

“Trust me on this one, that guy cares about you more than you think.” She said excitedly.

“Come on, you didn’t understand a word of anything we talked about.”

“That’s why I’m so sure, you were listening to the words, I was listening the body language. He was polite with me and he was warm with you. There was such a huge difference.”

“Maud, I don’t want to get my hopes up. He talked to me about a girlfriend he had a long time ago, he has never been with a man before, what does make you think that’s going to change now?” Antoine said trying to make sense.

“To be honest with you, nothing. Just a gut feeling. I will cross my fingers for you, I really like this guy, you two would be so cute together!” She exclaimed bouncing on the sofa.

Antoine looked thoughtful, he shook his head and finally broke his silence.

“There’s something I should tell you…” Antoine said not making eye contact with his sister.

“Oh it sounds important.” Maud noticed, going quiet for a second.

“He’s the only one who knows...” He muttered.

“Who knows what?” Maud asked looking at his brother’s worried blue eyes, a few seconds later it hit her. “Oh! Oh!… He knows!”

Antoine nodded a bit ashamed.

“Oh my God he knows!” She repeated. “But how? Why? When?” She came closer to Antoine looking forward for his answer.

“It just happened one day, it wasn’t planned, I just accidentally said it out loud in front of him.”

“And how did he react?” She asked very interested in the story.

“Well, he showed me his support from the very first moment, and he’s been very supportive since then. I’ve not dared to tell anybody else yet, but I hope everybody reacts like he did because he didn’t change a bit his way of treating me, and if he did, it was for the better.” He said flashing a shy smile with a trace of pride on it.

“Sweetheart you should see your face right now, I’ve never seen you glowing like this before, not even when you were with Iñaki. You talk about him like if he had invented the moon or something.”

Antoine looked at her and covered his face with his hands, he sighed deeply. “I thought I was dealing well with this, I thought I was cool with him being out of my reach, but now I notice I’m completely lost, if I ever see him with someone else it’s going to drive me crazy.” He reflected.

Maud placed a hand on his knee and patted it. “What I see is that you two have a wonderful relationship and think about it, how long do you know each other? A month? A month and a half? And in this little time you’ve already opened up to him and he seems completely comfortable around you. I think it’s a solid base for your relationship, time will tell but for now you should appreciate the progress and how well this has started.” She said supportively.

“Yeah, you’re probably right, it’s like I’m thinking about the dessert when I’ve not even started eating.”

“Let me tell you that this morning he was all the time around you, I saw him running from one side of the pitch to the other just to do one exercise with you. Of course I don’t know how he really feels about you, but from my point of view, he really enjoys spending time with you. How long has he been on the team?”

“I don’t know… Five? Six years?” Antoine tried to do the math.

Maud cracked a smile. “So he’s a kind of ‘veteran’ on the team and instead of being with his group of old friends he prefers to dedicate his time to the newbie…”

Antoine opened his eyes wide, he had never seen it like that but she was completely right. If he added the time he had spent with Koke on and off the pitch since he arrived, he could see that he had turned Koke’s number one preference, over his old Atleti friends, and even over his family. He didn’t know what that meant, but it was a positive thing for sure.

“Wow…” He only got to say, the realization still sinking in.

“Honey, I don’t want to say it out loud because I don’t want to jinx it, but he may be ‘the one’.” His sister squeezed his knee, emphasizing that ‘the one’.

“I wish.” Antoine replied not hiding his feelings anymore.

Maud flashed a warm smile and hugged him. His brother deserved all of that and more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had so much fun writing this one, hope you also enjoyed it!


	15. Chapter 15

Maud was gone and Antoine had thought a lot since her visit. He had promised to himself to stop overthinking things but he couldn’t help it. Maybe she was right and he had a chance with Koke? Was it too deluded to think like that?

He was ready to make a move. Not a radical one, but a move anyway.  
After the ‘banana show’ like he liked to call it, he noticed how Koke hadn’t flinched or even look uncomfortable one bit. So after a deep thinking process he came up with the conclusion that teasing didn’t bother Koke. And Antoine loved teasing so it was the perfect match.  
The move he was willing to make consisted on more teasing, subtle at first, just to observe Koke’s reaction, and if it was positive, maybe he could think about being a little more obvious.

Knowing Koke, subtlety wasn’t probably his thing so Antoine was pretty much safe. He knew how to play his cards without showing his intentions. He could tease Koke without exposing himself too much, at least that’s what he thought, and of course, that’s what he needed. 

He started to try it during matches, when everybody was so focused on the game that nobody would pay attention to little details. 

During the goal celebrations the physical contact with Koke lasted a little longer, it became more gentle, protected from the public eye by the human barrier of his teammates’ bodies. Sometimes it was a neck kiss, some others it was waist grab, and whenever Antoine felt more adventurous, it was a butt stroke. 

Koke didn’t seem to notice, or at least he didn’t seem to mind all of those additional touches, so Antoine carried it to the next level.

There was that day they were in an advertising event where they had to answer to some questions asked by kids. 

“If you had to choose one of your teammates to live in a deserted island, who would it be?” A little girl asked. 

Everybody went silent expecting Antoine’s answer.

“That’d be Koke.” He replied without a glimpse of doubt, flashing a toothy grin to all the kids watching them. 

Koke smiled shyly and looked to Antoine waiting for an explanation, Antoine carried on. 

“I always have so much fun with him so we wouldn’t have a dull moment. If I have to stay there for a long time, I better do it with someone who makes me feel the hours are shorter.” 

An ‘awww’ resounded in the room. That had been too cheesy even for Antoine, he would admit, but he couldn’t think of anything else that could be appropriate in front of a bunch of kids. Some other things came across his mind but they were definitely not suitable for those children. 

His teammates snorted at the cheesiness and Koke offered a high five to him, trying to erase all awkwardness. When the event was finished Koke thanked Antoine his words.

“So, who would you choose?” Antoine asked.

“I had never thought about it to be honest, but I wouldn’t mind sharing that island with you.” Koke replied winking at him.

“You’re just being polite, you have a bunch of old friends here, why would you share it with me?”

“Because I already know them too much, it’d be so boring to be stuck in a place like that with someone that can’t offer you any interesting story because you’ve heard them all.” Koke reasoned.

Antoine smiled at him, his heart warming a bit. Koke was making so much sense without even trying.

“Yeah, something like that would be really… exciting.” Antoine blurted out with the most teasing tone ever, and if it wasn’t enough, he winked at the end of the sentence.

He walked away disappearing through the corridor, letting Koke enjoy the double meaning of his words.

 

Days later Antoine had offered Koke watching a NBA game in his home. He was trying to turn him into a NBA hardcore fan so he could have someone in the locker room to talk about basketball, and also because every time he invited him over, it meant that they’d be watching TV until very late and Koke had to sleep with him. 

Not literally with him, but the guest room had almost turned into ‘Koke’s room’ and he even had a few of his things in there for those nights he spent with his friend.  
It wasn’t that Antoine had planned it like that since the beginning, but he wasn’t complaining at how the events were developing.

So that night in particular Antoine was taking a bath in the newly installed hot tub in his garden. The bubbles massaged every inch of his skin and the heat of the water was creating a mist cloud over him, contrasting with the cold of Madrid’s night. 

He was lost in the sensations when his doorbell rang. As soon as his mind was back to the real world he panicked a bit, he had completely forgotten that Koke would visit him that night to watch the game and he wasn’t ready at all.

He put on his bathrobe and ran towards the door. When he opened the door, Koke looked at him bewildered. His friend was shocked of seeing him wearing a bathrobe, dripping water on the wooden floor, after midnight. It definitely wasn’t what Koke was expecting.

“Uh… I… I’m sorry, I completely forgot.” Antoine quickly explained.

Koke laughed. “What were you doing?”

“Come here to see this!” Antoine said excitedly running through his living room and disappearing. 

Koke was afraid he would slide and fall, Antoine sometimes didn’t care too much about his safety. He followed the watery footprints until he arrived to the garden where Antoine’s bathrobe was lying on the grass, he raised his head and saw the mist halo covering the hot tub and Antoine waving from the inside with a proud grin.

“Wow!” Koke exclaimed quite surprised.

“I know right!” Antoine replied. “I got it installed last week and when I have a little while to try it, I come here to relax. This is amazing Kokito!”

Koke sat on the edge of the hot tub to continue the conversation, the mist clouding a bit his view. The bubbles on the water surface shined like little pearls under the moonlight. Antoine emerged from the opposite corner of the hot tub, closing his eyes and leaning his head back, emitting a soft moan.

“Uh… I can leave you alone if you want to.” Koke joked.

Antoine suddenly opened his eyes, he had forgotten him again. “I’m sorry, I just fly away when I’m here, this is so relaxing you can’t even imagine. You can join me if you want...” He offered. “The game starts in half an hour or something like that.”

Koke turned serious. “I’m not ready Grizi, you could have told me and I would have brought my swimwear!” He complained.

Antoine let out a sarcastic laugh and turned around, letting his body float on the water, his naked butt cheeks peeking out of the water for a moment and then disappearing again.

“Grizi!” Koke scolded him. “I can’t believe you!”

He turned around again laughing loudly. “And I can’t believe you’re surprised at this point.”

Koke blushed a bit and carried on with the banter. “You’re always exposing yourself so much you’re gonna catch a cold or something…”

“No way, one of San Sebastian physios advised me to do this. The contrast between the cold outside and the heat inside it’s good for the blood circulation… amazing feelings aside.” He explained stretching his arms propelling a bit of his torso outside the water. The cold air made his chest turn all red and his nipples go hard. 

Koke was starting to consider joining him, he was selling it so damn well and he was freezing outside. Antoine noticed the doubt in his eyes and continued.

“It feels soooooo good. It’s like getting ten massages at the same time with the bonus that the masseur doesn’t get tired.” He said pulling out a pleasured gesture. He continued exaggerating pleasure moans for a while.

“Ok, fine! I’ll do it!” Koke finally surrendered. 

He took out of all his clothes and sat across Antoine. Antoine was sad that the mist was preventing him from a wonderful view of his naked body, but he used to see him naked all the time on the locker room so it wasn’t much of a mystery to him. 

“Oh my God! It feels like there’s a bunch of needles piercing my body!” Koke noted.

Antoine laughed. “That’s because you were outside on the cold, give it a few seconds more and you’ll see what I mean…”

And he was right. Some seconds later Koke’s face relaxed into a delicious smile. He had his eyes closed, feeling the thousands of bubbles caressing his body.

“Look, if you turn around, you’ll find two little ledges on the wall, if you place your knees right there, you’ll get an amazing massage in your legs and abs, it erases all the muscular fatigue.” Antoine explained, obviating the little detail that he’d get that massage also in the area in between. Koke was more or less his height so the hot tub would hit the same spots that he got hit in his body.

Koke followed his advice and did it. Turning his back to Antoine. He started to feel the sensations Antoine had described and something else… There was a massaging spot right in front of his crotch, the bubbles colliding violently against his member. He squirmed at first, feeling a bit uncomfortable, but as long as he relaxed, that discomfort turned into the most intense of pleasures.

From Antoine’s perspective, he could only see Koke’s back, but he knew for a fact what was going on, his cock turning hard at the image. His eyes could see Koke’s back and neck muscles tensing and relaxing, his strong shoulders and arms holding the position and he could guess his hips bucking a bit under the water. What his mind could see was Koke’s cock being stimulated for those bubbles, his balls being massaged by the water, and his soft thighs being tingled. He could also imagine Koke’s face all scrunched, his mouth half-open, gasping for fresh air.

Antoine stroked discreetly his cock, the hot tub noise making almost impossible for him to be noticed. He increased the pace watching how Koke was forgetting about him, turning his motions a little more obvious. His friend was now circling his hips, splashing water all around his body, creating a small tsunami, the messy waves sometimes let the beginning of his ass on full display. His head was buried into his arms, which were right in front of his chest supporting his weight. 

As soon as Koke was getting closer and closer to the edge, Antoine was amazed at how his friend was losing grip on reality. Koke was now moving his body evidently trying to reach his orgasm, one of his hands now rubbing his hard-on. Antoine only needed two strokes more to come, biting hard on his lower lip to prevent him to moan loudly. The bubbles making him flinch a bit, tingling all his body.

Even if he wanted to leave that hot tub to stop the stimulation bothering his oversensitive body, he couldn’t, he didn’t want to break Koke’s bubble, and it would be so incredibly mortifying for his friend if he saw that Antoine had noticed everything. 

Antoine kept on watching, feeling like a lurker but he wasn't able to tear his eyes apart from the show he was admiring even if he tried. It was more of a half-show actually, his imagination was taking care of the rest. It was when Koke’s body shook violently and then stilled all of a sudden when Antoine knew it was it. 

Koke stood in the same position for a few seconds, breathing deeply and trying to recover his conscience, his muscles spasming. In that moment he remembered where he was and who was accompanying him and he panicked quite a lot. How would he look at Antoine in the eye now? He cursed himself for letting himself go in such an obvious way.

He turned around slowly, completely scared of what he was going to find. Relaxing a bit when he found Antoine with his head leaned back with his eyes closed, his mouth was half-open and he looked like he was sleeping. 

“Hey Grizi!” He shouted.

Antoine pretended to be shaken by his voice and opened his eyes. “Wow one day I’m gonna fall asleep so deeply here that I’m gonna drown.” He joked. 

He observed Koke’s face. His eyes were glowing, his skin was shining and his smile was the most blissful smile in the universe. He was happy he had believed his pretended nap because that would make things easier between the two of them.

“So, how was it?” Antoine asked innocently.

“I need one of these!” Koke exclaimed blushing lightly. 

“You can use this one whenever you want.” Antoine offered, with the most naive voice tone ever. 

Koke flashed a tender smile and thanked him for the offer. Then he asked for a towel because he was shivering. 

Antoine left the hot tub walking naked through his garden, not caring about Koke’s stare or about the cold temperature. His body was so on fire that the intense cold outside wasn't even bothering him. He put on his bathrobe and grabbed two towels for Koke. Then he picked up all of Koke’s clothes and carried them inside.

A moment later Koke joined him in the living room, with one of the towels wrapped around his waist. He was using the other one to dry his face and torso. 

“It’s so warm and nice inside!” He exclaimed. 

Antoine watched him from the sofa. His skin had turned red with the temperature change, and the water drops racing over his skin were distracting him more than he should. They started in his damp hair and would advance down his chest, his abs, and they would die right were the towel was, at the very end of his abs, only a few inches above his most private area. Antoine shook his head. “You have your clothes right there, in case you want to be more comfortable, I’ve left you a dry bathrobe with them.”

Koke nodded and grabbed his underwear and the bathrobe, he put them on and joined Antoine in the sofa. 

“So, when does the match start?” Koke asked letting his head fall on Antoine’s shoulder.

“In five minutes. Are you tired?”

“A tiny bit, your hot tub has calmed me way too much.” He said yawning.

‘I bet my ass you’re really relaxed now’ Antoine thought to himself. Smirking at his thought.

“Kokito, if you feel too tired you can go to bed whenever you want, I don’t want to force you to watch the game if you don’t want to.”

Koke turned his head to Antoine and watched him through his long eyelashes. “I’m fine here.” He said showing a tired smile. 

“I’m really glad to hear that.” Antoine replied, trying to act cool. Leaning his head on top of Koke's. "I feel great here too."

He sighed deeply.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know what to do, so I need your help, guys.
> 
> The next 2 chapters are a bit short so I can post them during the week, or join them in only one chapter and post them on Thursday-Friday.
> 
> What do you think about it?


	16. Chapter 16

The game began and they started commenting on the teams. Antoine tried to explain technical moves to Koke, who was trying to pay attention even though he was feeling quite sleepy. He would sometimes make a random remark to show Antoine that he was still watching but with every second that passed, it became more and more difficult to him to stay focused. The only thing preventing him from falling asleep is that he was feeling a bit cold because his hair was still wet.

“Grizi…” Koke muttered.

“What?” Antoine replied, his eyes glued to the screen.

“You’re going to hate me for this one…” 

“For what?” He continued watching.

“Can… Can I cuddle?” He finally asked, quite ashamed for asking.

He got Antoine to stop watching the game. Instead he was looking at him with a puzzled expression.

“Can you what?” He asked in disbelief.

“Well, I’m a bit cold and I kinda feel like I could use some cuddles…” He explained, not making eye contact with Antoine.

Antoine cracked a smile. “Are ‘you’ seriously asking ‘me’ to cuddle? Do you think you need to ask me permission for that?” He said in a fake offended tone. “Come on!”

“I just didn’t want to bother you or distract you from the game.” Koke didn’t really know why he was craving those cuddles but he knew it was right what he needed in that moment.

“Come here!” Antoine said opening his arms wide. “I always want to cuddle, look at me! I live far from all my loved ones, I really need it!”

Koke landed between his arms and buried his face on Antoine’s neck, he placed one of his arms around his waist between Antoine’s body and the sofa, and the other hand was resting on Antoine’s bare chest, which was visible because his bathrobe was half open.

Antoine laughed at how needy Koke was and he introduced one of his hands inside Koke’s bathrobe, sliding it between the fabric and his body and placing it on his back. The other arm would complete the hug over the clothes.

Antoine still was in his sitting position watching the game, drawing patterns on Koke’s warm back and kissing his head from time to time. Koke had completely withdrawn the game and just talked to Antoine about random stuff, his voice vibrating on Antoine’s sensitive neck skin. He drew little circles on Antoine’s chest, accidentally scraping one of his nipples. He wouldn’t notice, but every time he did it, Antoine closed his eyes at the brief unexpected pleasure. 

Sometimes Antoine asked him irrelevant things just to feel the warmth of his breath against his soft skin, some others he moved his hand towards Koke’s nape and caressed him softly, making him shiver. With his free hand he ran his fingers through Koke’s hair obtaining shudders from his body. He was just making sure that Koke wouldn’t fall asleep.

“I could get used to this.” Koke muttered, his lips almost kissing Antoine’s neck.

“What a cheek!” Antoine exclaimed. “I would also want my personal cuddler!”

Koke emitted a muffled laugh, which vibrated happily on Antoine’s body.

“I think it’s my turn to get those cuddles back!” Antoine protested, and started to move trying to shake Koke’s body off. 

“Nooooo.” Koke whined like a little kid.

“Remember when I gave you that massage and you said ‘I owe you one’” Antoine remembered mocking Koke’s voice. “Well, it’s about time you pay your debts!”

Koke thought about it for a second but he knew Antoine was right so he decided to not fight more against him.

“So… cuddles for you?” Koke asked.

“I actually have a better idea.” Antoine replied, arching an eyebrow.

Koke looked at him quite terrified, Antoine noticed his panicked face so he decided to explain himself.

“I want you to spoon me.” He said nodding.

“Spoon?” Koke said with a questioning look.

“You don’t know what spooning is?" Antoine asked back giving a shocked look.

Koke shrugged his shoulders and Antoine could see in his eyes that he was being honest.

“Well, let me show you.” He said approaching Koke, who was looking at him unsure.

He made Koke lie down on his side on the sofa, his back resting against the sofa’s backboard, he then proceeded to do the same, pressing his back against Koke’s front. Their bodies fitting together like puzzle pieces. Antoine’s movements were slow and tender, it was like if he didn’t want to scare Koke away.

“It works like this, the one ‘spooning’, in this case that’s you, it’s the one doing all the hugging and cuddling. I’m the ‘spooned’ one, so I just lie here and relax.” Antoine explained.

“And you still get to watch the game.” Koke noted in a joking tone.

“Yeah, that’s the best part.” Antoine teased, grabbing one of Koke’s hands and placing it on his side. “Come on, do the thing!”

Koke sighed dramatically but obliged, wrapping his hand across Antoine’s chest and pressing him firmly against his body, his other hand was tangled in Antoine’s hair as usual, he liked to do that and Antoine never complained about it. He would never complain because Koke playing with his hair made funny things to his stomach.  
He tangled his legs between Antoine’s, and he nuzzled tenderly his nape, scratching the spot there with his stubble, his lips touching ever so slightly Antoine’s skin, making him shudder.

“Like this?” Koke asked innocently, his hot breath caressing Antoine’s body.

Antoine had already closed his eyes, enjoying the feelings. His stomach was upside down, he was getting nervous and he had started sweating. He wasn’t even paying attention to the game anymore, he just wanted to live in Koke’s embrace. Forever.   
He moved one of his hands to his chest and tangled his fingers between Koke’s, it was his own way to say ‘Yes, keep going’ because he was pretty sure that the lump at the back of his throat wouldn’t allow him to speak a word.

It wasn’t sure if Koke had understood the message, but he could understand how Antoine’s heart was beating furiously under his fingertips, how it increased its pace with every single of his touches, and how his skin felt like it was burning. He smiled to himself satisfied at the things he was causing, and enjoying the intimacy between them. 

They remained a while like that, motionless, completely still. Not a single inch separating them, their breathings almost synchronizing. The game had ended minutes ago and any of them seemed to care. 

“Grizi… are you still awake?” Koke whispered minutes later, making Antoine’s body vibrate.

Antoine could only groan, he felt like he was floating in a cloud, even more relaxed than in the hot tub. He had no energy to say or do anything. 

“I think we should go to bed.” Koke reasoned as it was extremely late and both had to train in the morning. 

That’s when Antoine suddenly gingered up and turned around at the speed of light, facing Koke. 

“I can’t sleep alone tonight, don’t make me sleep alone tonight!” A hint of desperation in his voice. He patted Koke’s chest with his palms, waiting for his friend’s reaction. As he wasn’t getting an answer from Koke he continued. “Don’t make me beg…”

“Grizi…”

“...Please.”

It was impossible to say ‘no’ to that imploring tone. Antoine was asking that because he really needed it, and Koke wouldn’t be the one disappointing him. 

“Your bed or my bed?” Koke asked.

Antoine flashed the most beautiful smile Koke had ever seen. 

“You’re the best!” Antoine exclaimed wrapping Koke in a tight hug. “I don’t know about you, but I feel perfectly fine here.”

“Let’s not move, then.” Koke replied lazily, introducing one hand inside Antoine’s bathrobe, surrounding his body, and placing it in Antoine’s small of his back. 

Antoine shifted closer, if that was even possible, and propped himself up to kiss Koke’s forehead, making Koke’s hand to slide towards the beginning of his ass for an instant. 

“You spoil me so much, I’m so lucky.” Antoine whispered before the kiss, making Koke smile proudly. He then went back to the original position, placing his face on the same level as Koke’s. At least if he didn’t get to sleep too much, he would have the most beautiful view.

“Goodnight Grizi.” Koke muttered closing his eyes.

“Goodnight Kokito.” Antoine replied sweetly.

Koke’s lips formed a soft smile.

Antoine knew not all hope was lost.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As promised, the next short chapter will probably be up on Friday. Enjoy!


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just as promised...

Antoine was sleeping extremely well in that tiny space but something in the middle of the night shook him. It was Koke waking up abruptly. He was sitting in the sofa, panting, gasping for air. 

“Hmmm… what’s up.” Antoine muttered with a raspy voice. Sitting up to be at Koke’s level. His friend looked at him with a terrified expression, his face was pale and his eyes were empty. Antoine couldn’t recognize that expression on him.

“Thank goodness you’re ok!” Koke said relieved, hugging Antoine tightly.

Antoine laughed. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

He touched Koke’s back to discover he was completely drenched in sweat. He could also feel how his heart was pounding into his chest in an incredibly fast pace. Koke was grabbing him desperately, his palms pressing Antoine’s body like if he was making sure he was real.

“Koke’ what’s happening?” Antoine asked worried, breaking the hug and forcing Koke to look at him. Koke’s face looked now a bit more normal, but he was still having trouble breathing.

“It’s just… I had a terrible nightmare.” He answered, placing one of his hands in his chest, trying to lower down his heart rate. 

Antoine rested his palm on his cheek, caressing it softly with his thumb. “Shhhh… it’s ok, you’re here with me, everything’s fine, calm down… I’ll get you some water.”

It was right when Antoine was leaving the sofa when Koke grabbed his wrist tightly, Antoine turned around surprised.

“Please, don’t leave me alone!” He begged.

Antoine understood and sat again next to him, rubbing his back. When he had recovered a normal breathing rhythm, Antoine made him stand up. 

“Take this thing off, it’s soaked, you may get ill.” He said caringly, untangling the bathrobe belt and sliding it down Koke’s shoulders very tenderly. “Have mine.” Antoine continued, taking off his and offering it to Koke, who negated with his head.

“Thanks but I’m still sweating.” He explained, wiping out the sweat on his forehead.

“At least let me dry you off, you can’t go back to sleep like this.” Antoine said, rubbing the fabric over Koke’s body. “We should go back to bed instead, the sofa is all wet.”

“Sorry for ruining your sofa.” Koke said sleepily.

Antoine laughed, that was the last thing worrying him. He held Koke’s hand and directed him towards the rooms. He stopped in the corridor, hesitating, looking at both doors. Koke noticed his doubt.

“If you don’t mind, I’d like to sleep with you in your bed, it’s bigger.” He explained briefly with his raspy voice.

Antoine nodded and opened the door. “Go and lie down, I’ll bring you some water.” He patted Koke’s back, making him go inside. 

He came back a moment later with a water jug and two glasses. He poured one glass and gave it to Koke, who was sitting in the bed, his body half covered by the duvet.

“Thanks...” He said taking a sip. “...for everything.” He left the glass on the night table.

Antoine smiled warmly and patted his shoulder, he then sat next to him, the dim light of the room softening their bodies. 

“Do you want to talk about it?” Antoine asked very delicately. 

“Something terrible happened to you.” Koke said bluntly to Antoine’s surprise. “You disappeared and you didn’t answer your phone, we knew later you were kidnapped by someone who was threatening about hurting you badly… It was so so scary and terrible.” He explained, his voice trembling and his eyes watering.

It was quite striking how Koke felt so attached to someone he had just met, but truth is that the sole thought of losing Antoine, was unbearable to him. 

“But I’m here, right?” Antoine said enthusiastically, trying to erase the tension away from Koke’s body. Looking warmly at him with his huge blue eyes.

Koke brushed his face with his fingers, still not believing he was right there with him. Tingling Antoine’s skin and making him blush slightly. Then he closed up the gap between them, and he pressed his forehead against Antoine’s, their noses touching and only a few inches separating their lips. 

“I’m not letting anyone hurt you...” Koke murmured sincerely, his grasp on Antoine’s jaw intensifying. “...ever.” His breath tickling Antoine’s lips.

Antoine felt dizzy, he didn’t know what to do or what to say. Koke was promising to him to be his guardian angel in such a heartfelt way that it was doing funny things to his soul. He wanted to kiss him right there, but he felt paralyzed and overwhelmed.   
He closed his eyes tightly and shed a single tear out of frustration, the fear of ruining their friendship was on top of everything. He had never had such a pure relationship like this before, and he wasn’t willing to lose it.

Koke felt the wetness in his fingers and startled, moved away from Antoine’s face just to discover the damp path on Antoine’s cheek, he brushed it away with his thumb gently, Antoine’s eyes opening in that moment and connecting with Koke’s. 

What Antoine saw was Koke’s worried face, his jaw clenched and compassion painted in his gaze because he could see the scars in Antoine’s heart, the unfulfilled promises, the heartbreaks, all reflected in Antoine’s sincere eyes. 

The intensity of the stare was unbearable for Antoine who lowered his eyes to Koke’s thin lips. So close but yet so far. He decided to close his eyes again, to block out all the inappropriate thoughts. He could still listen to Koke’s deep breath, which was still tingling his face. He felt it closer and closer. Koke’s nose was now caressing his nose so delicately, giving him the sweetest eskimo kiss ever. Then he whispered one single word into his lips.

“I…”

And Koke finished closing the gap between them, pressing his lips against Antoine’s, very slightly, in a short-lived peck. He drew away slowly to admire Antoine’s reaction. He opened his eyes and looked back at Koke dazed, surprised. His heart pounding in his chest. He couldn’t let out any words so he touched Koke’s dry lips with his fingertips, making sure it was really happening. As he was caressing his lips, a shy smile was appearing on Antoine’s face and he closed up the gap between them again, hesitating in the very last moment.

Koke licked his lips in anticipation and that was a sign clear enough for Antoine to kiss him with decision. Koke’s lips tasted even better than he had imagined, they were soft and warm, the stubble around them was tingling his face and that made him smile into the kiss. Koke cupped his jaw and drew circles with his thumb on his cheek.

Antoine put one of his hands in Koke’s nape, and placed the other one in Koke’s elbow, sliding it up and down his arm, enjoying the goosebumps in the skin there. Koke rested his free hand on Antoine’s top of his head, tangling his fingers in his soft blonde hair. Antoine sucked gently on Koke’s lower lip making him shudder, and he opened a bit his mouth inviting Koke to explore further. Koke laughed silently but he accepted the invitation and introduced the tip of his tongue on Antoine’s mouth, making him to open it a bit more. He then found Antoine’s tongue and played with it for a while, humming in approval. Antoine started to move his tongue a bit too eagerly and Koke laughed again, backing out and sucking on Antoine’s lips sonorously, breaking the kiss. 

The kiss didn’t last long but it was delicious and hearty. They looked at each other panting. Antoine’s hand reached Koke’s and he tangled their fingers together over Antoine’s jaw angle. Both of them were smiling, not wanting to speak a word to avoid breaking the magical moment that had just happened between them. 

Koke moved his hand with his fingers still intertwined to Antoine’s and placed it in the mattress, silently inviting Antoine to lie down. Antoine nodded and lied down next to him, their heads resting on the pillow, looking at each other.   
Antoine placed his other hand on Koke’s chest, feeling his heartbeat. His heart was beating furiously and that made Antoine smile proudly because he had caused that reaction. 

He didn’t spend a minute overthinking things. He was just enjoying every second of that wonderful night. Every touch, every sound, every feeling. He would think about it the next day, he would probably think about it forever, but this was his moment and he wasn’t going to ruin it.

Koke shifted closer and started kissing his neck, sucking tenderly the skin there. Antoine wasn’t even worried about lovebites at that point, he just let out a muffled laugh and savored the sensation, caressing Koke’s nape and playing with the short hair there. When Koke broke the contact he spent a while admiring the bruise in Antoine’s neck, he brushed it with his fingers, his face bursting out with pride.

Antoine rolled his eyes evidently and Koke blushed a bit at first, chuckling later. Antoine joined the giggles and pushed him away in a playful way. They were feeling so comfortable with each other that playful smiles appeared on their tired faces. They were relaxed and happy. 

Antoine scooted closer to receive some cuddles from Koke who welcomed him in a warm embrace, kissing the top of his head. They fell asleep like that, their bodies tangled in a heartfelt hug.

It was funny how a nightmare had caused Antoine’s dream to come true.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tomorrow I will be posting a one-shot Antoine-Koke fluff fic so stay tuned! ;)
> 
>  
> 
> Oh, and I hope you liked this one :)


	18. Chapter 18

A few sunrays entered Antoine’s room through the small gap the curtains had between them. It was when they hit Antoine’s face that he lazily woke up. Feeling happier than ever.  
His body was vibrating with joy, his mouth still could taste that unexpected kiss from hours ago, and his bed still smelled like Koke.

“Koke?” Antoine asked in a very low voice, patting the empty space beside him in the bed. As he wasn’t finding him, he panicked and looked around his bedroom. He was alone, Koke had left him. 

He quickly put on a shirt and left the room searching for him. Had he scared him away? Was Koke now avoiding him? Antoine started sweating at the thought that he had lost him for good. He checked the bathroom, the guest room, the living room… all empty. Koke had even picked up all his clothes from the living room.

It was the moment when Antoine felt like crying when he could see Koke’s silhouette in the distance. He was in the garden, sitting in one of the garden deck chairs, his elbows resting on his knees and his eyes looking at the infinite. 

“Hey!” Antoine said from the doorframe, pretending to be completely calm. “I thought you were gone.”

Koke turned around his head to look at him and showed a faint smile. 

“I woke up a while ago and you looked like you were sleeping very well so I didn’t want to disturb you. Going back home without saying goodbye seemed rude to me.” He explained. 

Antoine smiled and joined him in the garden, sitting in the damp grass in front of him. The morning sun warming their bodies.

“Very polite... How are you?” Antoine asked trying to not be too direct.

“Are you trying to ask about last night?” Koke asked back, tilting his head to one side.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Antoine questioned him quite cautious. 

Koke shrugged his shoulders. “It’s probably for the better.” And he patted the empty space on the chair, next to him. Antoine nodded and stood up, joining him. 

They remained silent for a few seconds. Antoine cleared his throat and Koke understood it as an invitation to start talking.

“So… Grizi... Can I be completely honest with you?” Koke started, looking at Antoine’s clear eyes. The sun was making them glow even more than usual.

“That would be pretty much what I want.” Antoine replied nervous, he felt like Koke had bad news for him. 

“I’m so... lost.” He confessed almost in a whisper, lowering his head. Antoine’s heart warmed. 

“Been there.” Antoine replied nodding.

“It was my first time kissing another man, what does it mean?” He exclaimed with a tone of frustration. 

“It means you kissed another man.” Antoine replied genuinely.

“You’re not helping.” Koke replied pretending to be annoyed. 

Antoine shifted his body to face Koke completely, his face looked relaxed. “Koke… We kissed, that’s a fact. It’s not awkward, it’s nothing to be ashamed for, and it’s definitely nothing we should regret…” He stopped mid-sentence and his face turned serious. “Do you regret it?”

“No!” Koke negated quickly. “That’s not the thing!” 

Antoine sighed in relief. “So what’s bothering you?”

“It was actually me the one who started everything and I don’t understand why I did it.”

Antoine frowned. “Maybe because you wanted to?”

Koke nodded. “Of course I did it because I wanted to, but why did I want to do it?”

“I think it’s too early for this deep talk.” Antoine grabbed the side of his head and started rubbing circles on his temple.

“Grizi…” Koke’s voice sound choked. “Am I gay?”

Antoine opened his eyes wide and let out a surprised laugh. “Is that relevant?”

“Of course it is!” Koke exclaimed throwing his arms in the air. “I thought I had my life more or less under control, and I definitely thought I knew myself… and then this happens and my whole world turns upside down!”

Antoine placed a hand on his shoulder. “Koke, I think you’re overreacting.”

Koke looked at him bothered because he wasn’t getting how big this was for him. Antoine noticed his stern face. 

“I’m sorry, I’m being insensitive.” Antoine apologized. “But think it like this: last night, when you decided to kiss me, I bet my ass you weren’t thinking I was a man, a woman or a freaking unicorn.”

Koke listened intently to Antoine and nodded, waiting for him to carry on.

“You were kissing another person.” Antoine explained, with the most tender voice tone he owned. “You were kissing Antoine Griezmann, your friend, your Grizi…”

Koke smiled warmly. “That makes sense… But… I’ve never wanted to kiss another friend before...”

“That’s because you never had such a flawless friend like me.” Antoine joked smugly.

Koke glared at him. “Stop it!”

Antoine laughed. “Sorry, but I mean, If you’re questioning your whole sexuality after kissing me, it’s because I’m quite the big deal.” He flashed a toothy grin and he gained a shove from Koke. 

“Grizi… I seriously don’t know what is going on and I’m scared, could you please act as if you get it?” Koke showed a bit of desperation in his voice.

Antoine snorted. “Dear Kokito, of course I get it. It happened to me when I was a teenager. At least you’re now mature enough to deal with it.”

“But I’ve never felt any kind of attraction for a man before. I live surrounded by naked bodies in the locker room and I’ve never looked at anybody with that kind of eyes…”

Antoine interrupted him. “So you feel attracted for me?” He asked in a serious tone.

Koke stopped for a moment to analyze the words he had just pronounced. He had just confessed to Antoine that he had felt attracted to him. He hadn’t even thought about feeling any kind of attraction for him before, but he was already saying it out loud in front of him, he was definitely a mess.

“I only know I felt attracted to you last night. Something magnetic, I don’t know how to explain it.”

“It’s ok, I don’t expect you to be coherent in a situation like this.” 

“So… What are we?” Koke asked, scared.

“Well, we’re friends who feel very comfortable around each other and who happened to kiss once… twice last night.” Antoine corrected himself.

“But Grizi, you’re gay and you know it, what am I?” Koke asked insistenty.

“Kokito, I think you’re too obsessed with tags. It doesn’t matter what you are as long as you feel good with yourself...” He raised an eyebrow. “How did it feel?”

“How did it feel what?”

Antoine rolled his eyes. “Duh! Last night!”

Koke felt startled but he replied anyway. “It felt warm and nice. I felt very relaxed, and I appreciated how you were taking care of me the whole time.” He smiled.

“Well, I actually meant the kiss.” Antoine said, remembering Koke's nightmare and how he had calmed him after it.

“I was talking about the kiss.” Koke answered confused.

Antoine stood there with his jaw dropping. Koke was confessing that the kiss had felt good and that he noticed how he was treating him, which meant that Koke was completely aware of everything that was happening during that kiss and if he kissed him back it was because he was fully ready to do it. That was quite a big realization. Koke was also feeling every touch, he was hearing every sound, he was trying Antoine’s taste, and he didn’t feel uncomfortable for a single second.

“Grizi... “ Koke muttered fiddling with his fingers .

“What?” Antoine asked, terrified for what was coming next.

Koke looked at him with a very serious gaze. He cleared his throat. “You kissed me back, you giggled, you looked happy, and you are beaming right now… What am I to you?” He let out in a very soft whisper

Antoine’s heart started pounding on his chest violently. He wasn’t ready for this, he thought he’d never be ready for this. He had forgotten for a while to hide his feelings and he was being completely transparent to Koke. And even if Koke wasn’t the most brilliant person on Earth, he wasn’t blind and could see the obvious.

He lowered his head in defeat, breaking the eye contact with his friend. Almost choking a silent sob.

“Grizi?” Koke asked concerned.

Antoine was speechless, so his trembling hands took Koke’s hand and placed it over his heart, to make him feel his accelerated heartbeat.

“You’re this.” He said pressing his hand firmly against Koke’s, emphasizing his words. His face showing a mix of defeat and relief.

Koke opened his eyes wide, his fingertips felt nervous against Antoine’s chest. “For… how long?” He wasn’t sure he really wanted to know, but his brain shot the question even before he could register it.

“For how long we’ve met each other?” Antoine asked back, letting out a sad laugh.

“All this time… I had no idea, I’m sorry.” Koke felt ashamed, he should have noticed before. If he looked back in time he could remember little details that gave it away, but he was too oblivious to notice.

Antoine flashed a shy smile. “This doesn’t change anything, I don’t want you to feel bad about it.”

“The thing is… Grizi, I’m not sure about anything. I’m so confused and I don’t want to hurt you.” Koke’s features turned sad.

“Kokito, I’m not pushing you to do anything, as I didn’t push you last night. I won’t cross any lines unless you tell me to, and if you don’t want me to not cross any lines at all, I won’t do it.” Antoine surprised himself at how well he was dealing with this. Koke was telling him that maybe the last night kiss was just a moment in time and maybe it wouldn’t happen again and he was completely fine about it. Maybe it was because he had spent weeks convincing himself that hell would freeze before he could get something from Koke. 

“I’m sorry I can’t give you what you want.” Koke felt incredibly heartbroken for his friend.

“Koke, you’re already giving me what I want. You’re gifting me your friendship, your hugs, your affection, and now your honesty. It’s definitely more than I could ever ask for. Don’t think for a moment that you’re disappointing me for not being able to give me more, because I don’t expect you to give me more, ok?” Antoine asked, trying to make Koke feel better.

“But you deserve more!” Koke fired back. 

That’s the point when Antoine’s heart melt, he could have sworn that he even felt a sharp pain in his chest. He couldn’t believe how highly Koke thought of him.

“Koke, I want you to know that I want our relationship to be as usual. Don’t think that giving me hugs or that kind of stuff is going to hurt me or something. Don’t ever think about depriving me from your cuddles!” He joked pointing his index finger to him.

Koke laughed. “I promise.” And opened his arms wide to give Antoine the biggest of hugs.

“One last thing before we hug…” Antoine announced, Koke looked forward to hear the rest. “Koke, you’re probably the purest and most kind-hearted human I’ve ever met in my life. Finding you it’s been a blessing and your friendship is the most valuable thing I have right now. And that will never change.”

Koke blushed, feeling overwhelmed with Antoine’s appreciation. He hugged him, squeezing his body in the most intense hug he had given him to date. Antoine nuzzled his neck and inhaled his scent while Koke was kissing his temple, rubbing his hands against his back in a comforting way.

Antoine said something but it sounded distorted against Koke’s neck. They broke the hug and he repeated. “Needless to say, I’m not going to tell anybody, so you don’t have to stress about this at all.”

Koke smiled warmly and squeezed Antoine’s knee as a way to thank him. He was calm about it anyway, he fully trusted Antoine.

“Come on, let’s have breakfast.” Antoine said standing up and walking to the kitchen.

He made coffee thinking about the conversation they just had. He needed time to analyze everything but he was surprised at how maturely Koke was handling it. He was questioning his own sexuality and that was quite a big change, and even with that earthquake hitting his life he was being careful enough to not harm Antoine in the process. He was paying so much attention to the detail that Antoine was genuinely impressed.

He didn’t know what would happen from that moment on, but he was very happy that the kiss had actually meant something to Koke. He didn’t brush it off, he didn’t ignore it, and he didn’t run away. He was assuming it as something big and even, maybe as a turning point in his life.

Antoine had caused that, he was making Koke reconsider a lot of things just by being himself. He didn’t ask for that first kiss, and he didn’t ask him to kiss him back in the second one. Koke did everything at his own will and he had enjoyed it.

He didn’t want to get his hopes up, but the future looked now somehow brighter.


	19. Chapter 19

It had been another exhausting training session in the Atleti facilities. All the players were in the locker room taking showers, receiving massages, or just changing clothes. There were some conversations going on that fell lost in the general noise. 

“Oh what do we have here?” Josema exclaimed walking to Antoine, who was sitting calmly still in his training gear. He grabbed Antoine’s head and pushed it a bit to the side, to get a better vision of his neck. “Wow, this is what I call an epic hickey!”

Koke raised his eyes from the other side of the room, his eyes briefly encountering Antoine’s eyes. He started to panic, he trusted Antoine, but he didn’t know if he was good enough at making up stories.

“Hey Diego, come here!” Gimenez shouted. Antoine’s face getting redder and redder.

Godin joined them drinking mate. “Grizi!!! Have you met a vampire?” He asked in a cheeky tone, offering his mate to Antoine in a celebratory sign.

Antoine declined the beverage with a sign of his hand. He felt his cheeks burning. “I bet you two are jealous as hell.” He said flashing a grin.

Koke sighed relieved in the distance, he knew Antoine was witty and sharp-tongued, he’d be fine. Tiago sat next to him fresh after his shower, and started putting his clothes on.

“Hey Koke, it’s been a while since the last time I asked. How are your friends doing?” He asked in a very polite tone.

Koke hesitated. “They… they’re doing well I guess.”

Tiago laughed and lowered his voice tone considerably. “Can we stop pretending this isn’t about you and Griezmann?”

Koke’s face went pale, cold sweat appearing in his forehead. He froze in that moment and he was unable to say or do anything. 

“Don’t worry, I’m good at keeping secrets.” Tiago continued patting Koke’s knee.

“But… how?” Koke got to say.

“How do I know? Let’s say that I’m very good at body language. That, and also that you’re shit at lying, I never bought your ‘friends’ story.” He said whispering.

Koke wasn’t looking at him, he was looking at the other side of the locker room, where Antoine was laughing with Josema and Godin, explaining how he got that bruise in his neck. Antoine looked relaxed and the other two men seemed to enjoy his fake story. Koke breathed deeply, a bit calmer than before.

“Do you need to talk about it?” Tiago asked concerned.

Koke nodded, he knew that the only person who could help him in such a situation was Tiago, and now that he knew about everything, it’d be easier for him to explain his feelings. 

“Ok, let’s meet somewhere else, this place has ears in the walls!”

 

They left the training facilities and agreed to meet in Koke’s house. Talking about it in a public place would be too risky as they were pretty well known. They sat down in the sofa as soon as they arrived.

“So… About the swimming pool story... It was when we all went to Antoine’s party, right?” Tiago broke the ice.

“Yes, it happened when you all were gone. I think he didn’t notice though, at least he hasn’t mentioned anything about it.” Koke felt awkward talking about it, but he was decided to do it, it was the right time and the right person. “Tiago, please tell me, how did you find out?”

“Well, it’s the small things. I saw you one morning arriving with one of his shirts, it’s the way you look at each other, it’s that when he walks into a room you only have eyes for him…”

“Is it that obvious?” Koke asked worried.

“Not really, I just pay attention to details, don’t worry.” Tiago tried to calm Koke down. “So let me know, how’s actually your relationship with him? Because I only see you together at work, but do you see each other off the pitch?”

Koke nodded and took a sip of his soda.

“How often?” Tiago asked, waiting for Koke to open up.

Koke let out a laugh and shrugged his shoulders. “I see him more often than I see my parents.”

“Wow.” That’s the only thing Tiago got to say.

“But I mean, we’re good friends, we like to spend a lot of time together. We’re more or less the same age, we like more or less the same things…” Koke pointed out.

“From what you tell me it’s just a good friendship…” Tiago let out assuming that Koke had more to tell him. 

“Indeed it is. But...”

“But…” Tiago said raising his eyebrows.

“I’ve done with him things that I’ve never done with friends before.”

“Such as…” This was tiring for Tiago, every time he had this kind of talks with Koke, it took him ages to get the words out of him.

“We’ve slept together a few times…” Koke could see the smirk forming on Tiago’s lips. “But we’ve just cuddled, or hugged... Stuff like that.”

“So far it still looks like a normal friendship, a close one though. Is there anything else you want to tell me?”

Koke swallowed hard, his throat was dry and his voice sounded raspier than usual. “We kissed last night.”

Tiago’s jaw dropped. “He kissed you?”

“I kissed him.” Koke corrected him. 

Tiago was trying to gather all the information Koke was giving to him. “So after the swimming pool day there’s been a bunch of encounters, some of them ending up with you two sleeping together, and last night you kissed him.” He said out loud, not waiting for Koke’s confirmation. “How was the kiss?”

Koke blushed. “Aren’t we getting a bit ‘TMI’ here?”

“Oh dear Koke, I just want to know if you felt… things.” 

“The only thing I can tell you is that it was me who initiated the kiss, he kissed me a second time and I kissed him back. I enjoyed it, and I felt completely fine with it. It didn’t feel weird, or wrong.” Koke said furrowing his brows.

“I see… Tell me more about what you felt.” Tiago replied placing a hand under his chin.

“My heart raced, my stomach was upside down…”

“Uh-oh.” Tiago singsonged.

Koke raised an eyebrow. “I know what you’re thinking, you think I’m in love with him or something like that.” 

“Well… You can give it a name if you want it but...”

“Tiago!” Koke interrupted him. “I’m very confused, but I know for a fact that I’m not in love with him. Next morning everything was back to normal. I looked at him and I was seeing my friend as I’ve always seen him.”

“So… If you have your ideas so clear, why are you so confused?” Tiago noted.

“Because I liked the kiss, my first kiss with a man. I kissed a man!” He babbled.

“Ok, calm down. I get that you have strong feelings for Antoine, or at least a strong friendship. You’re super close to him, let me say, in a very short time, and you let yourself go a bit. What’s your main point of concern?”

Koke rolled his eyes dramatically, he thought it was pretty obvious. “Tiago, when we talked about ‘my friends’ you told me that time would tell. Ok, time has told us that apparently I enjoy kissing Grizi, I enjoy his company, his cuddles, and I love spending time with him. I’m a bit worried.”

“Worried?” Tiago was a bit lost, this kind of conversations with Koke always made his head hurt.

“What if I’m not what I think I am?”

“What if you’re gay, you mean?” Tiago replied bluntly. “Koke, being gay is nothing out of the ordinary. It just happens that the person you love is from your same sex. It doesn’t change anything, you don’t grow a third arm or something like that…” He joked.

“It’s funny, Antoine said the same thing...”

“That’s because we know it’s not a big deal. The only downside is that we sadly have to keep it on the low because of sponsors contracts and that kind of stuff.” A trace of sadness painting Tiago’s words, he hated those aspects in the Football World. “Wait.” He reacted. “Have you talked to Antoine about this?”

Koke shrugged his shoulders. “Yeah, we talked about the kiss and all that stuff. He told me to not worry about it. He understands my doubts”

“Koke…” Tiago was afraid to ask. “What does Antoine exactly feel for you?”

“Well, he didn’t say it with words, but he let me know that he has strong feelings for me.” He said nervously.

“Oh dear… Poor thing.” Tiago felt bad for Antoine, it was such a tricky situation for him, and he had high chances to end up heartbroken.

“He treated me so well Tiago, you can’t even imagine. When we kissed, in any moment he forced it to happen, and when it was happening, he was super tender to me. And then he explained to me that he completely understood my confusion and that he’d give me all the time in the world, and that whatever happens, he just wants to keep me as a friend forever… He deserves everything I can’t give to him.” He said defeated.

“Hey, don’t feel bad about it! It’s not your fault that your feelings aren’t the same, you can’t force yourself to love someone just because they’re being nice to you.” Now Tiago was feeling sad for Antoine, who was obviously deeply in love with Koke, but also for Koke, because he didn’t want to hurt his friend. 

“Why is this so complicated?” His voice breaking. 

“It’s always like this.” He said placing a hand on Koke’s shoulder. “Just… For the love of God, don’t treat Antoine any differently now. He would feel incredibly bad if you stopped with all that stuff you do together.”

“Yeah, I know. Don’t worry about it.” He flashed a smile to Tiago, and thanked him his patience and his help. 

“Just a last thing…” Tiago said later when he was almost walking out the door. “When your heart took control you kissed him. When your brain took control in the morning, you saw him as a friend. Think about it.” 

He just left and Koke was there, staring at the closed door, his words repeating in his head like a mantra. He didn’t know what happened but he just knew that half a minute later he was calling Antoine and asking him to come to his place. And ten minutes later Antoine was there.

“What happens?” Antoine asked. “You sounded weird.”

“I don’t know, I just wanted to see you.” Koke said, making Antoine smile.

“So do you have any plans?”

“I don’t.” 

Antoine raised an eyebrow at Koke’s answer. “So why did you call me to come over?”

“I told you. I wanted to see you. I just want to spend some time with you.”

Antoine smiled proudly. “Ok, then follow me, I have a place to show you!” He said enthusiastically walking out the door. 

Koke followed him confused, until they got to his car, for a change Antoine would be the one driving. Antoine drove for ten minutes until he parked his car. 

When they left the car, Koke found a wonderful landscape in front of his eyes. There was a small lake with clear and calm water, a beautiful view of Madrid’s mountains, with some snow on them already. The air was pure and the place was completely empty.

“How did you find this place?” Koke asked surprised, breathing in the clean air.

“The other day I took a wrong exit on the highway and somehow ended up here.” He admitted quite embarrassed. 

Koke laughed and rubbed Antoine’s head. “That’s so you! So what are we going to do here?”

“I want to walk around. I need a proper place to run when we don’t have trainings, and I like places where I don’t have to breathe pollution.”

“Sounds like a plan!” 

They started to walk on the green grass, the air smelled like flowers, and they enjoyed the company of some squirrels.

“Koke… There’s something worrying me… It’s about Atleti.” Antoine broke the silence.

“Go ahead.”

“Do you think Cholo is going to lose his patience with me?” He answered concerned.

“Why are you saying that?”

“I’m not scoring goals, I feel like everybody is disappointed on me, and then I don’t play many minutes. I can say I’m new to the team but Mandzu is scoring with ease and we arrived at the same time.”

Koke wrapped an arm around his friend’s shoulders. “Look, you only need time. We’re a complicated team with very specific dynamics, and you’re playing in a different position now. The goals will arrive, I’m sure of that because you’re hella talented.”

“But what if I don’t?” Antoine asked unsure.

“You will, I’m a hundred percent sure.” Koke said, tightening his grip. “I know that there will be a day when I will be signing a ball for you after scoring three goals in a match. And that day you will have to invite me to a dinner because I was the first one who believed in you.” Koke said smugly.

Antoine loved the confidence in Koke’s words. Sometimes it seemed like he trusted him more than he trusted himself.

“And what happens if I don’t score those three goals in a match?” Antoine asked.

“We’ll come back here at the end of the season and I’ll let you to kick my ass until I fall into that lake. That’s how much I trust you.” His answer made Antoine smile.

“Deal?”

“Deal!” They promised shaking hands.


	20. Chapter 20

Simeone was impatiently waiting in his office, his fingers tapping nervously on the table. His guest knocked on the door.

“Come on in!”

Koke opened the door slowly, entered the room, and sat on one of the chairs. He looked at his coach insecurely.

“I received your call, Mister. What happens? It seemed important.”

“And it is, Koke.” Simeone answered with a serious tone. He stood up from the chair and started walking around like a caged lion.

“I know I’m not in my best moment, Mister. I swear I’m trying but…” Koke started explaining. He wasn’t having his best season, he was well aware of it, but he didn’t know what was wrong as he was giving his one hundred percent as usual.

“It’s not about that.” The coach interrupted him. “I see you working everyday, I know you’re trying your best.”

Koke felt only half relieved. If it wasn’t about his performance level, he had no idea about what Simeone wanted from him. He looked at the older man with confused eyes looking forward to hear more from him.

“I wanted to talk to you about something a bit more delicate… Koke we know each other for a few years now and I think we can trust each other, right?” Simeone asked, sitting on the edge of the table, right in front of Koke.

“Of course Mister!” Koke said solemnly.

“I’m going to ask you one question only and I want you to be completely honest about it. I don’t want you to hide information from me because there’s no need in doing it, I’m not going to be mad at you whatever the answer is…”

“I’m starting to get scared.” Koke admitted letting out a nervous laugh.

“What kind of relationship do you have with Griezmann?” Simeone asked all of a sudden.

Koke’s heart started to race. Did he know? He considered lying but he knew that Simeone would accept everything but a lie so he decided to tell the truth. After all, he was pretty terrible at lying anyway.

“At this point it’s quite a close friendship.” Koke emphasized the ‘close’ part by arching his eyebrows.

Simeone opened his eyes wide. “How ‘close’ is that ‘close’?”

“Mister, you will understand that it’s a tad uncomfortable for me to share this kind of personal details…” Koke said blushing.

“Koke.” Simeone said placing his hand on one of his shoulders. “You know for a fact that I don’t get involved in personal stuff unless it may affect the team so I need you to answer to these questions. I’m not going to judge you.” He used the most tender voice tone he owned.

“We kissed.” Koke replied bluntly, still unwilling to provide further details.

His coach went silent for a moment and started to walk around the room again. He looked through the window, thoughtful. He moved his neck to both sides, like he was trying to stretch his muscles.

“Are you a couple?” He asked concerned finally breaking the awkward silence.

“No. We’re not.” Koke replied quickly.

“Are you in love with each other?”

Koke actually didn’t know how to reply to that one so he just shrugged his shoulders. Simeone looked at him through the window reflection, impatiently waiting for an answer.

“Koke, I need to know…”

“It’s complicated, Mister. I think I’m not but…” Koke said scratching his head. “He may be, but I’m not sure either.”

“I see.” Simeone said in a reflective way. He wasn’t showing it on the outside, but this caught him off guard. In all his years playing and training he had never seen two teammates in a relationship before, and now in a matter of three years he had to face the same situation twice.

“I’m sorry if this causes any kind of problem to the team…” Koke muttered lowering his head.

“Koke, I can’t say I’m not surprised, but I know how to handle this kind of stuff. Anyway you will understand that we have to make some adjustments.”

Koke raised his head to receive more information.

“I think the best thing for everybody is that you two stop sharing rooms at the hotels. I don’t want you to get distracted right before matches. I’ll sort everything out and you will have different roommates starting tonight.”

“I… accept it.” Koke said defeated. Even though it was completely understandable, he would miss those nights with Antoine right before the matches, when they would talk about random stuff until they fell asleep, forgetting all nervousness.

“By the way, how many people know?” Simeone asked curious.

“I only told Tiago because I needed his advice. Did he tell you?”

“He didn’t.” Simeone replied. “I think it’s for the better if you two don’t share it with anyone else until you know what’s going on. I don’t want any kind of distractions for anybody.”

Koke nodded. “Thanks for everything, Mister.”

Simeone waved him goodbye with a condescending smile. He left his office as soon as he could. He walked through the corridors at the same pace that his heart was beating. Really fast.  
When he got to the privacy of his car he grabbed his phone and tapped the screen really urgently.

“Hi there!” Antoine replied cheerfully from the other side of the line.

“I can’t believe you couldn’t keep your mouth shut!” Koke shouted in desperation.

“Excuse me?” Antoine said confused.

“Don’t pretend you don’t know what I’m talking about. You broke your promise!”

“Koke, calm down, what’s going on?”

“Simeone knows!” He kept on shouting.

“He knows what?” Antoine replied completely lost.

“You told him!”

“I told him what?” Antoine was starting to lose his patience.

“You told him about us! I wasn’t ready for people to know about it and it took you a few days to tell him, I can’t believe it!”

“Koke could you please stop doubting me? I’ve not told him anything, I’ve not even spoken to him this week!”

“And how the hell he knows?” Koke replied anxiously.

“How would I know? Maybe he found out by himself?”

“That looks quite difficult as we’re pretty calm in public. So...”

“Enough!”

Antoine hanged up the phone furiously. He couldn’t believe Koke had lost his trust in him, and he couldn’t believe Koke wasn’t even listening to him. He had never heard him that angry, and he didn’t deserve to be shouted at like that. For the first time ever, he was mad at Koke, mad at his attitude, and mad at his lack of maturity.

The worst part for Antoine is that the next game was against Real Sociedad in San Sebastian, his old home. It wasn’t going to be an easy game for him, and he wasn’t happy that it would happen right after arguing with Koke.

 

Antoine had sat far from Koke in the flight, and he had avoided him the whole time. He wasn’t surprised when he was told that he would share the room with Gabi. He didn’t know who would be Koke’s roommate and at that point, he didn’t even care.

He took a shower and went to bed as soon as he got to the hotel, but he couldn’t avoid Gabi trying to lecture him about how he shouldn’t feel bad when playing against his old team. Antoine just nodded to make him stop as soon as possible.

He also got some messages from his San Sebastian friends asking him to hang out after the match. He told them that wasn’t possible because the team would fly back to Madrid after the match, but he invited them to visit him in Madrid soon.

As soon as he could he switched off his phone and hugged his pillow, trying to get some sleep. He shed some silent tears as the pressure was getting to him. It was the first night in forever that he was going to sleep without a Goodnight wish from Koke.

 

Next day things weren’t much better. The dark circles under his eyes made quite obvious that he hadn’t have the best sleep of his life. Koke didn’t look at him at all, Simeone had told him that he wouldn’t start the game, and he had heard some nasty things about him when he arrived to the stadium. Some fans didn’t forgive him for signing for Atleti.

It was like the team had caught his bad mood and the match was a disaster for everybody. Atleti lost, he only played five minutes, and that time was enough to hear the people booing him from the stands and calling him names. He felt like crying. His head was low, and he didn’t want to talk to anybody.

Some teammates tried to cheer him up, but any of them were Koke, and that only made things worse. The fact that everybody could see how visibly sad he was and Koke wasn’t caring about him in such a difficult moment was heartbreaking for him.

 

After a flight that felt like forever he got home and dropped his backpack on the floor. He was shattered so he walked to the living room and collapsed in the sofa. He was about to fall asleep when his phone buzzed.

_“Hey I’m in Madrid, wanna hang out? ;-)”_

Antoine’s fingers unconsciously tapped the phone’s keyboard.

_“I’m not going anywhere so if you want to see me, you better come to my place.”_

And he accompanied the message with his address.

_“Hmmm I like it when you’re bossy <3 Give me half an hour.”_

He left the phone on the table and changed clothes into something more comfortable. He prepared two drinks, one for him, one for his guest.

He wasn’t sleepy anymore.


	21. Chapter 21

Antoine opened the door and received his guest with a hug.

“I’ve not seen you in ages, what are you doing here?”

“I’m on a business trip for a few days, I saw your invitation in the group chat and I thought that maybe you’d like to remember the good old days.”

Antoine had forgotten Iñaki was in the San Sebastian group chat. It made sense anyway, after their break-up it took him months, but they ended up being friends. Especially because they had a lot of mutual friends who wanted them to get along well.

Both sat down and started drinking, sharing old and new stories. Iñaki was telling him how much he missed him sometimes, and how much of a prick his boyfriend was being lately. Antoine wasn’t sure if he liked listening to that or not, but when he got to the third booze glass, he didn’t care anymore.

Antoine started telling him how much of a shit weekend he had had, and how he wasn’t having a good performance level since he arrived in Madrid. That sometimes he missed San Sebastian and everything it meant.... It wasn’t planned, but the talk led to cuddles. Those wonderful cuddles Antoine had been craving the whole weekend. Those cuddles that were making things better. Those cuddles Koke had neglected him in such a cruel way.

The softness of the cuddles was somehow replaced by wet and sloppy kisses. And even before he could register it, Iñaki was palming him through his shorts. And he was getting hard.  
It maybe was the alcohol tricking him, but the idea of having sex with his ex-boyfriend didn’t seem wrong. He hadn’t had sex with anybody for months, it had been only him, his sex toys, and his imagination, but when he was with Iñaki he was a pretty active person, they had sex quite often, and his body missed that. He missed the feeling of having someone inside of him, he missed the mind-numbing orgasms, and he missed the attention and the care.

And he just let go.

Iñaki continued undressing him, rubbing his own boner against Antoine’s. Kissing him rawly, almost bruising his lips. His movements were hard and desperate. It seemed like he was having sex out of spite, because he was angry at his boyfriend. Antoine didn’t even care about being used like that because he just wanted his sex dose, and who was better to do it than someone who knew how to push his buttons?

Iñaki’s fingers scissored expertly Antoine’s ass, he knew how much preparation time he needed and he was surprised it was taking him this long. He blamed it to the alcohol. Antoine knew it was because he wasn’t emotionally invested in him anymore. None of them seemed to care, as they kept on stroking each other’s erections until Antoine was ready.

A swift movement from Iñaki’s hips made their bodies fit together, and he crashed his body against Antoine’s in a fast pace. Their moans were echoing in the living room, accompanied by the slapping sound of their bodies. Nothing else. They didn’t talk to each other and they had even stopped kissing. All they wanted was to come, to reach their orgasms as quickly as possible, and probably forget it had even happened.

The first one reaching it was Antoine. His body shook violently and the waves of pleasure hit his body. The stimulation was so much for him that he pushed Iñaki away from his body. Iñaki then stroked his shaft until he climaxed all over Antoine’s abs, their cums mixing together.

Antoine, still panting, got up to get a wet towel and cleaned himself up. He then invited Iñaki to stay there for the night as it was pretty late, but he made him sleep on the sofa instead of going with him to his room. He didn’t even offer him the guest room, for Antoine it didn’t feel right as that was Koke’s room. A few of his clothes were there, his scent still floated on the air, and he didn’t want to intoxicate it.

He was lying on his bed, already regretting what had just happened. He thought that it would make him feel better, but he felt emptier and more lonely than ever before. He saw that he could have whoever he wanted except the man he loved. And that was destroying him inside.

 

He didn’t sleep a lot, and he was still hating himself in the morning. He woke Iñaki up and suggested him to get a shower while he prepared some breakfast. His hangover was needling his head and he needed a good dose of coffee. He was pouring a cup of the hot beverage when the doorbell rang.

He didn’t know what he was expecting, but the view of Koke surprised him quite a lot. Even before he could open his mouth, Koke started talking.

“I’ve not slept at all last night thinking about how much of an asshole I’ve been in the last two days with you. I’ve treated you so unfairly and you don’t deserve that, I’m so sorry Grizi.” Koke said sincerely.

Antoine's sleepy and hangover brain needed a few seconds to register his words, but as soon as he did, he rushed to hug him. “Of course I forgive you!” He broke the hug and looked at Koke’s sincere eyes. “And be one hundred percent sure that I’ve not told anybody. I would never lie to you like that.”

Koke nodded, his face glowing with joy. He was about to open his mouth when something interrupted him.

“Hey Anto, have you seen my phone?” Iñaki’s voice resounded from afar.

Antoine felt like dying, he had forgotten about him, and this was the worst possible moment for him to appear. He crossed his fingers for him to stay inside, but a few seconds later he appeared with a towel wrapped around his waist.

“Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t want to interrupt anything!” He said. “Hi, I’m Iñaki.” He offered his hand to Koke, who was looking at him as if he was some sort of alien. He shook his hand and smiled awkwardly.

“Nice to meet you, Iñaki. I better go, I didn’t know you had guests, I don’t wanna disturb you.” Koke flashed another awkward smile and left even before Antoine could say anything.

Antoine came back inside and Iñaki was looking at him with a puzzled face.

“Wow, did he give you bad news? Your face is all pale and you look like you want to puke.” Iñaki asked him with a glint of concern in his voice.

“Pretty much.” Antoine answered mind-absently, knowing that he probably had messed things up for good.

 

Koke was walking to his home and he felt like his whole body was on fire. He felt jealous, he felt angry, and he also felt a mixture of disappointment and betrayal. He knew Antoine was free to do whatever he wanted because they weren’t together, but the fact that he had shared a night with another man was quite infuriating to him. The fact that ‘another man’ was his Ex just made everything worse.  
He had confessed to him that he had strong feelings for him, and not even a few days later, he was with another guy. That’s how much Antoine was going to wait for him.

He got to his home and pressed his back against the main door, he slid through it until he was sitting on the floor. And then he broke down.  
Tears started forming in his eyes and fell relentlessly, soaking his palms, that were hiding his face. The frustration, the stress, the pressure, everything got to him, and he couldn’t handle it anymore.

He cried like a baby, he just couldn’t stop. Sometimes it was even difficult for him to breathe. His eyes were burning, and his stomach and his chest felt like there was some sort of sword piercing them.

But why was he crying? He even questioned. To be honest with himself, he felt like he was losing that special bond he had with Antoine. If he had spent a night with his Ex, he would probably spend more time with him now. Maybe his Ex wasn’t his Ex anymore. Maybe he could give him everything Koke couldn’t. To make things worse they would spend less time together on the team because of the new hotel rooms’ situation.

He didn’t want to lose the link he had with Antoine, it was the best thing that had happened to him in a very long time. When he was with Antoine he felt full, he felt complete. It was like he needed Antoine to feel alright.

The last two nights had been a nightmare for him. He hated that it was himself who had caused that situation. And he hated himself because it was his fault that Antoine was with his Ex now.  
If he had behaved like usual, he would have spent the night with Antoine, especially after losing a match because it always made them feel better, and nothing of this would have happened.

He had broken his main two rules in his relationship with Antoine in a matter of hours: he had hurt him by calling him a liar, and he had changed the way to treat him. He knew he was the only one to blame. He couldn’t blame Antoine for searching affection somewhere else, he was human, he was free, and he had the right to do it.

So the conclusion was that Koke was crying because he felt guilty. Because he wasn’t able to put a name to his feelings. Because he had made Antoine feel bad. And above all, he felt guilty for not respecting his true self. That newly discovered true self that was silently screaming at him, and he had been replying to it by covering his ears.

He remembered Tiago’s words. About who was taking control, his brain, or his heart. Well, now his heart had declared the war in his body, it had blocked his brain, and it was taking action.  
His heart had decided that it didn’t feel good to see Antoine in the arms of another man. It was telling him that it was time to take the blindfold off and start looking at himself like he really was. His heart begged him to stop crying and listen.

When the sobs had stopped, the only sound Koke could hear was that accelerated heartbeat pounding on his chest. The product of the jealousy, the guilt, the frustration, and the stress.

For the first time ever Koke was listening to his heart, and it was telling him what it had always been telling him. But this time, would it finally be listened?

_He was in love with Antoine._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Boom! :D 
> 
> This one was a bit short, but intense. Next update, on Sunday probably.


	22. Chapter 22

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First things first. I want to thank you all the feedback on the previous chapter, I'm pretty sure I've never received so many comments on a Chapter before. I hope this one doesn't let you down.

Antoine had been calling him during the last hour but he didn’t want to answer the phone. He had been crying so much that Antoine would notice it on his voice. The last thing he wanted was to make Antoine feel guilty because of his actions. It wasn’t Antoine’s fault that he had been too dumb to accept his true feelings.

After a few missed phone calls he got a message from his friend.

_“I feel like we should continue this morning’s conversation.”_

_“We’re fine now Grizi.”_

_“I owe you an explanation, I think.”_

_“You don’t have to, don’t worry.”_

_“I need to! My place. Tonight. Please.”_

Koke couldn’t say no to that. Antoine was begging him, and he really wanted to see him again, even though he didn’t want to listen to whatever story containing Iñaki’s name Antoine had to tell him. He agreed on meeting Antoine, and his friend replied with a smiley face. That’s all they talked during the day.

 

Koke arrived in time to his house and Antoine received him with the warmest smile. He didn’t really know how to break the ice, and how he would tell Koke about what had happened last night, even if it seemed pretty obvious.

“First things first. Koke I’m sorry for what you have seen this morning, I’m not proud to admit that Iñaki has spent the night here and…” Antoine started talking with his throat completely dry, this was hard and rough for him but he had to do it, he had promised himself to be completely honest with Koke, always.

“Grizi, wait, you don’t have to apologize for anything. You’re free to do whatever you want to do, you don’t have to give me any kind of explanations.” Koke replied making him stop, he didn’t want to hear what Antoine was about to say.

“It’s just that… I regret everything that has happened in the last hours so much.” He accepted in a defeated tone. “I feel like I didn’t respect myself, my instincts took control, and now you will probably get a wrong image of me. I’m not like this. I’ve never been like this!” He said burying his face on his hands.

Koke looked at him surprised, he was expecting another kind of reaction from Antoine, but he looked like he hated himself so much for the things he had done.

“Grizi, I don’t know what happened last night but I can imagine it, and if it is what I think it is, you probably did it because you had your reasons, so please, don’t torture yourself.” Koke said in an understanding tone.

“But this is not me! I’m not easy!” He continued talking against the palms of his hands.

“Come on! I don’t think that. I know how you really are!”

Antoine raised his head looking doubtful at Koke. He found Koke’s sincere eyes and that’s all he needed to understand that Koke was telling him the truth.

“Now let me apologize properly for my behaviour during the last days.” Koke announced.

“You already did it this morning, and I know you mean it, there’s no need to do it again.”

“But I want to explain myself a little more, let’s sit down, please.”

They shared that sofa they had shared so many times before, and Antoine waited patiently for Koke to start talking again. His friend looked nervous, thoughtful, as if he was organizing his ideas to sound as coherent as possible. He coughed and then started talking.

“When Simeone told me about us I felt terrified and I don’t know why. Like... the fact of someone easily finding out just scared me so much and I thought that if he did, everybody would do it too, and I’m not prepared for that.” Koke’s voice was shaky, he knew that his words could hurt Antoine in some way.

“You’re ashamed of having kissed me.” Antoine let out half-asking it. His voice tone making clear that he wasn’t enjoying Koke’s doubts.

“No, no, no!” Koke reacted, placing his hand on Antoine’s shoulder. He felt incredibly bad when his friend flinched at the touch. “It’s not shame! It’s shyness.” He tried to make sense but he felt he was failing.

“Shyness?” Antoine asked feeling a bit lost.

“Look, I’ve never shared personal details with people on the team, I’ve never talked about my love life with them, well, or actually with anybody. I just don’t feel comfortable talking about that kind of stuff with people, it’s not their business and I feel like when I do, they are just gossiping about it. I don’t want people to treat my personal life like some kind of frivolous thing, because it means so much for me.”

Antoine was starting to understand what Koke was trying to explain, he was protecting him. If people didn’t know about their special relationship, they wouldn’t talk about it and they would be safe in their privacy. He softened his features, making Koke see that he was still listening intently to him.

“So, when Simeone told me, I didn’t want to accept that people could notice by themselves, because I’ve always considered myself quite good at keeping my personal stuff private, so I thought that maybe you had told him because he should be one of the first people to know...”

“Despite me saying that I would never tell anybody…” Antoine remembered.

“I’m so sorry. I just panicked and I acted in the worst possible way. I feel so small in this situation that I easily lose control.” Koke’s words sounded sincere to Antoine’s ears, even his body language showed how regretful he was. His head was lowered and his palms were pressed together.

“Losing control is something human, but I would like you to talk to me whenever you feel you’re losing it. I can help you a lot.” Now it was Antoine the one reaching Koke’s shoulder. He squeezed it gently, earning a faint smile from Koke.

“I don’t want to be the one who bothers you the whole time. You have your own life, you shouldn’t have to take care of mine too.”

“Don’t be silly, I’m always glad to help. So what did Simeone say?” Antoine asked curious.

“He wanted to know the true nature of our relationship, he didn’t seem mad or anything, just worried. I guess he doesn’t want us to be too distracted.”

“I wonder how he noticed. I’m pretty sure we’ve being quite cautious.”

“God knows. He lives in this neighbourhood, maybe he saw us leaving the house together or whatever.”

Antoine was surprised that he hadn’t thought of that yet, of course it was an option. Maybe he saw Koke one morning leaving Antoine’s house, or maybe he saw them arriving together in the car. And as he was thinking about that, he noticed how vulnerable they were to everybody’s eyes. That privacy Koke craved so much was so difficult to achieve for two famous footballers like them.

That made him think about how much of a hell a proper relationship with Koke would be. Of course it would feel like heaven for him, but the fact that they should be always careful, always controlled and restrained wasn’t too appealing. He was used to keep his personal life on the low, but he didn’t know if that pressure would be too much for Koke, who seemed quite fragile.  
Then he smiled at his osady, thinking about a future with Koke when they had just kissed once. Sometimes his imagination ran too fast.

Koke saw the change in Antoine’s face. “What are you thinking?”

“I was just thinking…” Antoine muttered making Koke look at him intently. “About how easily I forgave you this morning. I mean, you completely doubted me.” He reacted quickly.

Koke raised an eyebrow, he had no idea at what was coming next.

“I think we should do something so you can learn that I never lie…” Antoine continued, looking at Koke directly into the eyes.

“So, what do you have in mind?”

“We could play truth or dare.” He finally said, flashing a cheeky smile.

“What are you? A teenager?” Koke laughed not taking Antoine’s words seriously.

Antoine pouted. “I swear you need to learn the lesson, and the best way is to hear some truths from me.”

“Wait? Is this for real?” Koke stopped laughing. “Oh my God, no!” He said covering his face.

“Why not? Do you have anything to hide?” Antoine replied, trying to tease him.

“I have absolutely nothing to hide, it’s just that this is so… childish?” Koke said swallowing hard, maybe he actually had a few things to hide, or at least some things he would be embarrassed to admit in front of Antoine. He had the gut feeling that if Antoine was suggesting the game, it was because he was pretty damn good at it.

Antoine side-eyed him and continued. “We need to set the rules before we start.”

“Grizi, it’s just a stupid game, it’s not engineering.” Koke replied defeated, he knew he had no choice.

“If any of us refuse to answer a question or to make a dare, we have a price to pay.” Antoine explained enigmatically.

“And that price is…”

“An item of clothing.” Antoine said proudly.

Koke burst out laughing at his answer. “Now this is really teenagerish, you can’t be serious.”

“I’m dead serious. Take your jacket off so we start with the same clothes.” He said tugging on Koke’s sleeve.

“Grizi if you want to see me naked you just have to wait until after a training…” Koke replied amused, taking his jacket off. “So, who will start the game?”

“Truth or dare?”

“Ok, I’ll take that as a ‘me.’” Koke shrugged his shoulders. “Truth.”

“What’s the first impression you had of me?” Antoine asked very interested in the answer.

Koke smiled, Antoine had started with a soft question to make things easy.

“I thought you were a boring guy.”

Antoine’s jaw dropped, feeling personally offended. “What?!”

“You were just so quiet, and you didn’t talk to anybody. I thought you weren’t interesting at all.”

“You know what, Resurrección? That hurt me, but I forgive you.” Antoine joked, pressing his palm against his chest with an affected gesture.

“So, truth or dare?” Koke said quickly.

“Truth.”

“If you had to choose one of our teammates to have one crazy night, who would you choose?” Koke asked trying to seem as innocent as possible.

“Wow Kokito, I wasn’t expecting this kind of question from you.” Antoine replied surprised.

“Well, it was you who wanted to play, I’m not going to make this easy for you.” Koke winked at him and Antoine’s heart skipped a beat.

“I don’t know. Maybe Mario Suárez? He’s hot… And that ass...” Antoine said biting his lower lip, and Koke looked at him half-annoyed, he didn’t want him to look with hungry eyes at other people in the team. “Your turn.”

“Truth.”

“This is going to be boring without dares… Ok, how far did you get with your old girlfriend?”

Koke’s face turned red, that was something he didn’t like to talk about. Not even his brother had asked him about that because he always looked so uncomfortable when someone mentioned the subject. So he lowered his head and started taking his shirt off, the dim light tracing his toned muscles.

Antoine swallowed hard. “This is a win-win situation for me right here!” He joked, trying to ease the awkwardness away but enjoying the view at the same time.

Koke folded his arms across his chest trying to cover himself a bit. His arm muscles looked bigger in that position, Antoine thought it was a dirty trick to distract him.

“Truth or dare?” Koke asked shyly, trying to divert the attention from his body.

“Truth.”

“What are your feelings for Iñaki right now?”

Antoine wasn’t expecting such a serious question in such a silly game, but he owed Koke that answer.

“The same as before. He’s an old friend and I don’t have any emotional investment on him anymore. What happened last night helped me to see that I’m one hundred percent over it.”

Koke didn’t understand how having sex with an ex-boyfriend would help you to forget them, but he could somehow see in Antoine’s eyes that it was true. He felt a huge wave of relief washing over his body anyway. Antoine was free again and he hadn’t any sentimental ties with Iñaki anymore. It was good news.

“Truth or dare?” Antoine asked interrupting Koke’s thoughts.

Koke knew that after his delicate question, a tricky one would be next for him, so he decided to change.

“Dare.”

Antoine smiled mischievously. “You have to kiss the body part you like the most about me.”

“I hate you!” Koke yelled at him, blushing again.

It was a close call, he adored Antoine’s eyes, but the thing that drove him crazy it was his perfect smile. Antoine probably knew it and he was using that information to his advantage.

Koke closed the gap between them and paused a few inches away from Antoine’s face, making his breath caress his skin. Antoine looked at him eagerly, flashing a delightful smile because he knew what was coming. Koke rested one of his hands on Antoine’s nape and pressed his lips against Antoine’s, planting a short but warm kiss.

Antoine savoured the brief moment. He was so happy that even in a conflicting time like this for Koke, he had not shied away from that kiss. His heart raced feeling the gentle pressure of his hand on his neck, and the tenderness of his lips. It was crazy how a simple peck from Koke, touched him thousands of times more than a night of sex with his Ex-boyfriend.

When Koke broke the kiss he could feel Antoine following his motions, trying to make it last longer. “Don’t test your luck, Griezmann.” He whispered, their lips still touching. He softly pushed Antoine’s chest away.

Antoine’s smile was glowing like ever before, he was licking his lips shamelessly and his burning cheeks had a rosy tint. “My turn. Dare.” He rushed to say, hoping for another dare as hot as this one.

“You have to do impressions of all of our teammates.”

Antoine laughed at Koke’s idea, ‘such a mood breaker’ he thought. He was terrible imitating people, and he didn’t want to spend a long time doing the challenge, so he wordlessly took off his shirt, trying to do it in an attractive way.

Koke rolled his eyes with a funny face, Antoine was never shy of taking his clothes off in front of him. He threw a cushion to him to make him stop.

“Truth.” Koke said laughing, shaking his head.

“Have you ever masturbated thinking about another man?” Antoine raised an eyebrow innocently, admiring how Koke’s face was turning bright red.

“Grizi!” Koke replied scandalized. “Those questions are too much!”

“Well, if you don’t want to answer them, you know what you have to do…” Antoine teased him.

Koke let out a grunt of disapproval and unbuttoned his jeans. Antoine loved how he could guess the reply to the questions Koke wasn’t answering just for his reactions. He had guessed that he didn’t have sex with that girl, and now he was assuming that he had indeed masturbated thinking about a man. He secretly hoped that the mysterious man was himself.

Koke peeled off his trousers and sat hugging one of the sofa cushions, so there was something protecting his exposed body. He promised himself to make Antoine sweat in this game from that moment on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If I get to write a bit today, I will probably upload the next one in the middle of next week. 
> 
> I hope you liked it.


	23. Chapter 23

After a while Antoine was winning the game, he had two remaining items of clothing while Koke only had one. It was boding well for him.

“Truth or dare?” Koke asked.

“Truth.”

“Were you thinking about me while you were having sex last night?” Koke asked in a vulnerable tone.

Antoine’s face turned serious, he didn’t want to hurt Koke with his answer. If he replied ‘yes’ maybe Koke saw it as something disrespectful towards him, and if he replied ‘no’ maybe he would be showing that he didn’t care about him at all. The truth is that of course he had thought about him. All the time, he pretended Iñaki’s hands were Koke’s, and he tried to fool himself into believing that those sloppy kisses were gifted by his friend.

He took off his jeans feeling a bit defeated, especially after seeing Koke’s triumphant smile. “You’re better at this game than I had thought.” He admitted, throwing the jeans to a corner of the room. “So, truth or dare?”

Koke knew he was doomed if he chose truth, Antoine really knew him well enough to make complicated questions to him. “Dare.” He said nervously.

Antoine glared at him and then ran to the kitchen. Coming back seconds later with a banana. Koke felt like dying when he saw him, he knew what it was coming. 

“I want you to eat this banana the way I do it.” Antoine grinned at him while he was offering him the piece of fruit.

“Oh my God! You know how embarrassing this is going to be for me?” Koke shouted.

“Of course I do! That’s why I’m asking.” He said with the most annoying smile Koke had ever seen. “Well, you know what you have to do if you don’t do it…” Antoine hinted, making Koke remember that only his underwear left for him. 

“I hate this game and I hate you.” He said while he was peeling off the banana. He could see Antoine sitting beside him, hugging a big cushion. “Do you want popcorn or something?” Koke joked side-eyeing him.

He started licking carefully the tip of the banana, sucking softly with his lips. Then he stuck his tongue out and started licking lines from the bottom to the top of the banana. Every time he reached the tip, he glanced at Antoine, who was looking at him with his jaw dropping.  
He let out some approving noises, mixing with the sound of his lips sucking on the fruit.

He scraped his teeth gently over the sweet flesh but still not biting it. He closed his eyes and he made the whole fruit disappear into his mouth, almost making it hit the back of his throat. He could hear Antoine gasping in surprise and he opened his eyes for a second to see what he was doing. He found him hugging tightly that cushion, his knuckles almost turning white. His blue eyes were pierced on Koke’s mouth. That encouraged Koke to continue, as he was feeling quite ridiculous doing it.

Koke, proud of Antoine’s reaction, closed his eyes again and retired the fruit from his mouth, he licked his lips slowly and he bit eagerly a good part of the banana, chewing it sonorously. He opened his eyes again to find Antoine sweating. He smiled cheekily at him and wordlessly offered him the rest of it.

Antoine with his mouth still wide open accepted it and ate the rest, savouring Koke’s taste mixed with the sweet fruit. He was feeling the ache on his crotch, which was covered only by his underwear and the cushion that was protecting him. This game could end very badly but also really really well for him. 

“So at this point, whoever misses their challenge loses, as we both only have one remaining item of clothing… Interesting.” Koke remembered. “Truth or dare?” He asked smiling contently.

“Truth.” Antoine said not trusting Koke’s pretended innocence.

“We’ve slept together a lot of times and you know I’m a heavy sleeper so… have you ever kissed me or touched me on my sleep?” Koke questioned curiously.

“That wouldn’t be fair to you! I’ve never done it and I never will. If we kiss or whatever, I want you to be fully aware of it. Stealing kisses when you’re asleep isn’t a nice thing to do.” Antoine replied feeling very satisfied with his answer. 

Koke looked at him with the warmest smile painted on his face. He felt so glad to have a friend like Antoine, someone who respected him like that.

“With that cute answer you’ve earned the privilege to ask me about a truth.” Koke nodded.

“I’ve always been curious about this one. Do you remember when I threw that party with the whole team being here? We ended up in the pool and you left in a quite rushed way acting a bit awkward. What was going on?” Antoine was saving this question for last, because he really wanted Koke to answer it.

“What was going on, it’s the same thing I guess it’s going on behind that cushion.” Koke replied with a flushed face, pointing at the cushion Antoine was holding like a shield.

Antoine opened his eyes very wide, as if he had just seen a phantom. He glanced down and then looked back at Koke, speechless. Koke knew he was aroused, even though that wouldn’t be much of a surprise. But the most interesting thing here is that Koke left that pool because he had got a boner after wrestling playfully with Antoine. This was huge news to Antoine and he was trying to play it cool in front of Koke.

“Oh my God Koke!” He shouted. Failing at the whole ‘playing it cool’ thing. “See? That’s how hot I am, nobody can control it!”

Koke rolled his eyes so hard, that he thought he would hurt himself in the process. “Shut up and let’s continue with this stupid game. Truth or dare?” He said embarrassed, his face visibly red.

“Yeah whatever, you can silence me, but you can’t erase that from your brain.” Antoine smiled smugly. “Dare.” 

Koke grabbed a pen that was resting on the coffee table and gave it to Antoine, who was looking at him puzzled. 

“I don’t have any tattoos, and I don’t have plans to get any soon, but if I were to get one, what kind of tattoo would you want me to get and where?”

Antoine’s eyes sparkled. So many possibilities and just one single chance. He was surprised that Koke had trusted him enough to do that, as it could lead to a lot of physical contact. He decided to behave like a true friend and not make him suffer too much, but of course he would take advantage on this one.

“Fine. I need you to lay on your back.” Antoine said, trying the pen on the back of his hand to check if it worked.

Koke looked doubtful at him, he was half-regretting what he had just said. But he knew Antoine wouldn’t be too mean with him, so he agreed and laid on his back.

Antoine looked at him from the top of his head, to his toes. Several times, searching the perfect place, and of course enjoying the view. Koke shuddered at Antoine’s intense stare, his blue eyes felt like piercing his skin. Antoine left the safety of his cushion and kneeled between Koke’s legs. He didn’t even care anymore that Koke could perceive his erection, after all Koke had acknowledged it and he didn’t seem disturbed by it.

“You know what? I’m so used to see you tattooless that I wouldn’t like you to have a tattoo in a very visible area. Maybe somewhere more hidden.” He said resting one hand on Koke’s right hip.

“Grizi…” Koke warned.

“Calm down, I know what I’m doing.” He said, pushing away Koke’s waistband slightly, his nails scraping very gently the sensitive skin on his belly, making Koke shiver a bit. He had his eyes glued to Antoine’s motions, as if he wasn’t fully trusting him. 

Antoine rested the pen a few inches away from his hipbone and Koke squirmed a bit.

“It’s cold!” He explained himself. 

Antoine smiled, blew a bit of hot air into the pen’s tip, and pressed it again against Koke’s skin. Then Antoine started to doodle on his low belly, right where the waistband of his underwear used to be. Koke’s abs flexed discreetly whenever Antoine reached a more sensitive spot, and that always drew an accomplished smile from Antoine’s lips. 

He was being very careful of not touching any delicate part of Koke. He didn’t want to even brush his hand against his crotch. Accidentally or not. This was a trust test and he was going to pass it. So he grabbed the pen in a very weird way just to avoid the contact when he was reaching that area. When he was getting to the other hip, he lowered his face to appreciate better the ink. His hot breath crashing against Koke’s delicate skin.

Koke felt so relaxed. The tingly sensation of the pen was amazing, especially in such a sensitive area. But he was overwhelmed by how Antoine was controlling himself. He always delivered in such complicated situations.

When the tattoo was almost done, Antoine pressed his index finger against his creation in different zones, and noticed how the ink was still fresh in some parts, staining his finger. He then blew air at those wet patches, making Koke buck his hips unconsciously. Antoine looked at him with a mixture of surprise and amusement.

“If you don’t stay still you’re going to ruin my masterpiece.”

Koke blushed. “I’m sorry, it was just so tickling.”

“Don’t worry, it’s done. Go and search a mirror to appreciate my art.” Antoine said smugly, releasing the waistband of Koke’s underwear, causing a slapping sound against his belly.

Koke stood up and went to the bathroom. He admired the fake tattoo on the mirror. It almost seemed a real tattoo, Antoine’s dedication had paid off. It was a sentence in a very beautiful font, like those from the old books. He walked to the mirror as much as possible to try and read it, but he couldn’t understand what it said. He then came back to the living room.

“I love it Grizi, it looks almost real! What does it say?”

“It says ‘On ne voit bien qu'avec le cœur. L'essentiel est invisible pour les yeux’. Because you know, everything sounds better in French.” He joked.

Koke adored when Antoine spoke French. His voice changed slightly and turned deeper. It also sounded quite inviting. “And what does that mean?”

“It’s a very famous quote from “The Little Prince” It means: ‘It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.’” Antoine replied.

Koke stood there in silence. In the middle of his brain-heart conflict Antoine had chosen that specific sentence for him. Something to get inked forever. He was pretty sure that it had been a coincidence as he hadn’t told Antoine about his inner war. A very well-timed coincidence.

“That’s a very beautiful sentence Grizi, nice work!” Koke reacted, still thinking about how the destiny seemed determined to cross his path with Antoine’s. “My turn. Truth.”

Antoine had almost forgotten they were still playing. The intimacy of the tattoo moment had made him forget everything. But he still wanted to win.

“What did you feel this morning when you saw Iñaki here?” He blurted out.

Koke thought for a second or two how to choose the right words. He was going to answer the question and he would win the game.

“I felt jealous… and angry.” He acknowledged.

“Angry at me?” Antoine asked concerned.

“No. More like angry at the situation and myself. Because I felt I had triggered that, and it made me feel so bad. In any given moment I was mad at you.”

“I’m sorry.” Antoine felt terrible for Koke, he seemed like his feelings were really hurt when he saw his ex-boyfriend. On the other hand he was happy to hear that Koke was jealous, because that showed how much Antoine meant for him.

“Once again, I don’t blame you for what you did. So there’s no need to apologize.” Koke explained, making Antoine feel really lucky of having him. “Your turn. Truth or dare?”

“Truth.”

“What did you feel when I kissed you before?”

Antoine paused for a moment to collect his thoughts. “Even if it was very short, that kiss made me feel things I’ve never felt that intensely before. And I wanted it to last forever.” He admitted, feeling a bit vulnerable. He was destroying the shield he had created around his true feelings for Koke, it was useless to hide them anymore.

Koke beamed at that answer. Antoine was always so sincere when it was about his feelings for him, that he was almost jealous of not being able to be that eloquent.

“Good. I choose dare.”

Antoine bit his lower lip and looked at him shyly. “To be honest with you what I want you to do right now is to kiss me again, but that wouldn’t be fair because I told you I’d never push you to do that kind of things. So in this round I want you to do whatever you want to do the most right now.”

Koke grinned at Antoine’s easy dare. “Ok.” He said standing up, placing a cushion on Antoine’s lap. He straddled him and sat on the cushion. Antoine looked at him in awe, feeling scared and excited. When Koke had positioned himself, he surrounded Antoine with his arms and hugged him tightly, burying his face on his neck.

Antoine placed his nervous hands on Koke’s sides. “I’ve missed you so much.” He said in a serious tone. Sighing relieved at how well things were turning out.

“I’ve missed you too, I’ve been so silly.” Koke admitted. 

“Your hugs are the best.” Antoine muttered while he caressed his back. “They make me so happy.”

He could hear Koke chuckling and he could feel his lips smiling against his skin. Their chests were pressed together and they could feel each other’s heartbeat. Antoine’s fingers tickled Koke’s back, and Koke moved his head to whisper into Antoine’s ear.

“Truth or dare?”

“Dare.” Antoine whispered back.

“Kiss me.”

Antoine’s blood froze on the spot. His heartbeat accelerated so quickly that Koke could notice it, and he reacted caressing Antoine’s hair, trying to soothe him. 

“Are you sure?” Antoine hesitated, this was everything he needed, but he really wanted Koke to be into it. 

“I think we both deserve it.” Said Koke, leaving the security of Antoine’s neck and facing him. He had blushed, and the fact that he was licking his lips showed how nervous he was, but he was prepared for it.

Antoine reached Koke’s rosy cheek, his hand shaking. He didn’t even know why he felt so insecure all of a sudden, but he sensed it was a really important moment. He placed his other hand on the other side of Koke’s face, cupping it with his hands, and he made him move closer to him, as he was trapped between Koke’s body and the backboard of the sofa. 

Koke’s hands were resting on Antoine’s collarbones, and his face showed now the desire. He really wanted it to happen. “Come on Grizi, don’t be a tease.” He sighed, seeing how much time Antoine was taking to do it. That made Antoine grin satisfied.

He pulled Koke’s face even closer and when their lips were touching ever so lightly, he ghosted them around Koke’s mouth, making his friend laugh impatiently at the tingly sensation.

Antoine then wet his lips, his tongue accidentally touching Koke’s lips. He was building up the expectation in Koke on purpose because he really wanted the kiss to be truly special. He rubbed his thumbs over Koke’s blushed cheeks, playing with his stubble, and smiled happily at him.

It was when Koke was miming that smile that Antoine finished closing up the gap between them. When they finally kissed, Antoine felt almost dizzy, he couldn’t believe he was kissing Koke on his demand. The warmth of Koke’s lips felt heavenly, and it was erasing away all the doubts and insecurities in Antoine.

Antoine sucked on Koke’s bottom lip eagerly, in such a passionate way that his movements were erratic and messy. Koke was replying to the kiss by tilting his head to one side, granting a better access for Antoine. His tongue played with Antoine’s lips, and whenever he encountered Antoine’s tongue with his own, he felt shivers of pleasure. His hands were caressing Antoine’s neck and shoulders. 

Antoine drew away for a second, trying to inhale some fresh air, but as soon as he did, Koke was attacking him again, this time deepening the kiss. Their tongues exploring the heat in each other’s mouths. He let Koke take control of the kiss, so his hands left his face and he placed them on his hips. This made Koke to scoot closer, if that was even possible. He cupped Antoine’s face with his hands firmly, restricting his movements and accepting that control Antoine was letting for him. 

Whenever one of them broke the kiss, the other continued with it without pause. Their hearts were pounding so hard in their chests that it was almost audible. Antoine rubbed his palms smoothly over Koke’s legs, starting in his hips, going down to his knees, and then coming back to the hips again. Sometimes he teased him by introducing his fingers under the fabric of his underwear when reaching his hips. He was controlling himself to not go further than that and he knew Koke liked it because whenever he did that, he smiled into the kiss. 

Koke then broke the kiss and started to play with Antoine’s neck. He could hear Antoine panting, gasping for air. His chest moving up and down visibly. He then reached his ear and sucked gently on his earlobe. 

“Truth.” He whispered.

Antoine’s brain had already melted at that point. He didn’t care about the game anymore, he just didn’t want it to stop, so he asked the first thing that came into his mind. “How does it feel?”

Koke traced a line of wet kisses on the side of his neck before facing him and replying. Antoine shivered at Koke’s eagerness.

“I’ve never felt anything like this before.” He said heavy-breathing, crashing his lips against Antoine’s again and sucking hard on them, almost bruising them. Antoine had perceived the lust painted on his eyes, and that newly discovered gaze aroused him more than anything. He noticed how Koke was thrusting his hips unconsciously as his hands were still holding them.

He was so thankful for the cushion separating their bodies because his boner was about to explode. The stimulation was overwhelming, and there was also Koke’s weight right over it. The heavy pressure of his body made him feel restricted and submissive, which was quite hot. Some of Koke’s body movements made the cushion rub against his erection, making him feel so close to the edge. 

He thought he would lose control, because his head felt heavy, but he was handling the situation quite well. He was still quite aware of the things he was doing. He rested one of his hands on Koke’s ass and pushed him closer. Koke didn’t seem to mind as he obeyed, and Antoine could felt Koke’s hardness pressed against his belly. 

The next thing he knew is that he was coming into his underwear, while they were sharing a deep kiss. He uncontrollably moaned as he was feeling his orgasm stimulating every nerve of his body. He pressed his palms hard against Koke’s hips, even tugging a bit on his underwear. His motions turned messy and his kissing skills turned clumsy. Almost biting Koke’s lower lip in the process. Koke groaned and drew away, finding Antoine’s flushed face, sweaty forehead and bright eyes welcoming him. 

“Did you just…” Koke asked cautiously in disbelief.

Antoine was still panting, looking at him with hungry eyes. He leaned his head back and sighed deeply, his lips forming a cheeky smile.

“I can’t believe you!” Koke screamed laughing. He kissed Antoine right in his Adam’s apple, feeling his heavy breathing. 

“It’s not like I’m the only one to blame!” Antoine exclaimed poking at Koke’s side with his index finger. 

Koke complained sonorously and then he looked down. “Oops.” He said noticing his bulge. “I got a bit carried away.” He said noticeably embarrassed. 

“It’s not like I’m not enjoying it though.” Antoine said winking comically at Koke. 

“You’re the worst!” Koke joked. “Let’s make a deal, I go to the bathroom to fix this and you wait for me in the bed… Preferably after changing your underwear.”

“Sounds like a plan.” Antoine replied. 

He looked at Koke walking away, disappearing through the long corridor. Then he lifted the cushion, checking out the sticky mess, making sure it had already happened. Then he shook his head and went to his bedroom, excitement building up in him. 

A night with Koke sounded promising.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The banana strikes again! :D
> 
> Hope you liked it. As always, I will be very happy to read your feedback! xx


	24. Chapter 24

Antoine was lying on his mattress, his head working at full capacity. The heat of the moment hadn’t allowed him to think about everything that was going on, but there was just so much stuff happening at the moment.

He had kissed Koke again, and again, and again… And Koke had kissed him back all those times, and he had enjoyed it a lot. Koke had admitted to be jealous of Iñaki after knowing that he had spent the night with him. Then there was the whole swimming pool boner thing… Antoine’s head was starting to hurt. Everything hinted that Koke was really into him, but he hadn’t heard it from his lips. What if Koke just needed all that affection? What if this didn’t mean for him the same that it meant for Antoine.

He wasn’t ready to ask him because he knew that Koke was probably a mess himself. This was so new for him, and probably still quite conflicting. This was going to be such a huge test for Antoine’s patience.

A few minutes later Koke emerged from the bathroom. Antoine was starting to get used at that beaming face. His smile was shining like ever before, his cheeks were rosy and round. He couldn’t help noticing how the veins of his right arm were swollen, and he shivered at the dirty thoughts filling his mind up.

Koke sank into the mattress, making Antoine bounce. He scooted closer and placed his head on Antoine’s pillow. Looking at his face quite closely. 

“Grizi, you should see yourself right now.” Koke suggested.

“Why?”

“Because you have the biggest smile I’ve ever seen in my life.” Koke replied cheesy. 

Antoine buried his face in the pillow ashamed, he knew he became so weak whenever Koke was near him, it was almost embarrassing.

“Don’t do that!” Koke said punching his shoulder softly.

“No way. I’m gonna live in this pillow forever!” Antoine’s muffled voice made Koke giggle.

He was lying on his stomach hiding his face from Koke, giving time to his cheeks to make the blush disappear. He was grabbing the pillow firmly so Koke couldn’t steal it from him.   
Koke started tracing drawings on Antoine’s back with his index finger. 

“You know what? It’s like I can’t get my hands off you. It’s weird.” He mentioned, confused.

Antoine snorted. “It happens to me quite often.” He received a back pinch from Koke for his cockiness. 

“What do you think it means?” Koke continued trying to redirect the conversation.

“I don’t know. Maybe you do it because you know it makes me feel good, and when I feel good you’re happy?” Antoine said, lifting his head from the pillow and looking at Koke, who was concentrated on his back.

“It makes me feel good too.” Koke replied, now paying attention to Antoine’s face. 

Antoine stroked the side of his face with his palm. “You’re spectacular.” And then he closed the gap between them to plant a chaste kiss on his lips. It was the first time he kissed Koke without asking him first. It was time to make some moves to see if Koke was ready to move forward with him.

“See? I can’t help it either!” Antoine let out with a smirk painted on his face.

“Grizi. Once again I want to thank you for not rushing things. I feel a little bit of vertigo right now and even though the kisses make me feel great, it’s still a bit soon for me to… you know… give longer steps.” The honesty was reflected on Koke’s sincere eyes. 

Antoine’s heart jumped on his ribcage. Was Koke suggesting that with time he would give him more? More than those amazing kisses? If only Koke knew that Antoine wasn’t expecting absolutely anything from him a few days earlier. Everything that was happening since then made him feel like he had just won the lottery. 

“I would give baby steps with you till the end of the world.” 

And that sentence made Koke hug Antoine tightly. Almost breaking his bones. Koke’s heart was racing against Antoine’s torso. Making it echo through his body. 

“Are you scared?” Antoine asked.

“Pretty much.” Koke confessed in a choked voice..

Antoine knew pretty well the feeling, it felt like walking on thin ice. Koke was probably thinking about having to come out to so many people, the hundreds of questions that would follow, the fact of having to hide his true self from the public eye… It was a lot to handle, and it required huge amounts of patience and maturity to do it. But he was so happy that Koke finally seemed to admit the true nature of his feelings.

“I’m not going to let you fall apart.” He whispered reassuringly into Koke’s ear.

“I still have so many questions…” Koke replied breaking the hug and looking at Antoine with serious eyes.

“Like…”

“Like what are we now?”

“Why do I always have to answer to these questions?” Antoine joked.

“Because you’re the clever one.”

“That’s true!”

Antoine received a shove from Koke, who wasn’t having none of his jokes. He wanted a serious answer that could enlighten the situation for him.

“Like I’ve told you before, you’re too obsessed about tags, Kokito.”

“That doesn’t answer my question.” Said Koke visibly annoyed.

“What do you want me to say? Do you want me to say that we’re boyfriends? Gosh, I wish! But you are not even sure about your... everything. And I understand it. So please understand that it’s a bit difficult to me to put a name to this.” 

Koke let out a deep nervous sigh. “I want to be with you all the time. I want to kiss you. I want to hug you. I want your attention and your love. And I’m jealous if another man gets those privileges. Put a name to that.”

Antoine swallowed hard. “At this point, words are irrelevant.” He muttered before gifting Koke a bruising kiss that left both of them breathless. 

Koke went for a second kiss, this time softer and warmer. Antoine received it closing his eyes, losing himself in the sensations. He perceived Koke’s accelerated breathing and the heavenly touch of his fingers on his back, pulling him closer. He reacted twirling his tongue searching Koke’s, finding it, and brushing it delicately. Koke hummed at that move and kept on caressing Antoine’s back, reaching the beginning of his round ass, and coming back to the shoulder blade.

Antoine sucked expertly on Koke’s bottom lip and kissed his chin, tracing a path of kisses down his neck, being careful of not leaving any marks. His open-mouthed kisses made Koke tremble. They were passionate and heartfelt, and they were drawing the most amazing moans from Koke’s lips. Antoine changed his position and intertwined his legs between Koke’s, accidentally brushing Koke’s crotch with his thigh. This made Koke tense up for a second.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to do that.” Antoine apologized, placing his hands on Koke’s nape and kissing his temple. “I swear the lower I’ll get is the tattoo line.” 

And with that promise he disappeared under the sheets, planting a line of kisses down Koke’s chest. He licked one of his nipples and followed his way reaching Koke’s bellybutton. He caressed his abs and traced their outline with his finger. He kissed the word “heart” on Koke’s tattoo and he came back, brushing his nose ever so slightly against Koke’s hot skin, appreciating his personal scent. 

When he appeared again from under the sheets he found Koke with his eyes closed, fisting the sheets and gasping. There were tiny drops of sweat pearling his forehead. He didn’t seem to have noticed Antoine being back to his side.

“Was this too much?” Antoine asked with an obvious tone of concern. “I don’t want to make you feel uncomfortable.”

“Do I look uncomfortable?” Koke asked back, opening his eyes and finding Antoine’s worried face.

“To be honest, you look like you were in your happy place, but what do I know.” He answered with a teasy voice.

“I don’t know how do you do it, but your touch is something else.”

“That’s because I know how to do it.” Antoine replied raising his eyebrows. He kneeled on the mattress next to Koke and placed his hands on the pillow, leaving Koke’s head between them. He lowered his face and started kissing him again. Koke reached his side and stroked it smoothly, drawing a sigh from Antoine’s throat. 

Antoine unconsciously changed his position, placing his knees on both sides of Koke’s hips and broke the kiss to stroke Koke’s nose with his own. The cute eskimo kiss was interrupted by Koke’s raspy voice.

“Why are you so far from me?” He complained about the space between their bodies, tapping Antoine’s side with his fingers. 

Antoine hummed kissing Koke’s cheek and let his weight fall carefully. His crotch landed on top of Koke’s, making him quiver. Antoine kept on planting kisses all over Koke’s face, rubbing discreetly his erection against Koke’s bulge. Koke moaned at the pleasure and caressed Antoine’s thighs, enjoying the soft touch of his skin. He reached his ass and stroked it lightly over his underwear. 

“Fuck yes.” Antoine let out breathily against Koke’s jaw, without giving it a thought. 

Koke laughed and kept repeating that movement that his friend had enjoyed so much, noticing how every time he did it, Antoine circled his hips, making their boners press against each other firmly, sending a rush of pleasure through his body. Every now and then he insinuated his fingertips under the fabric and that drove Antoine crazy. That excruciatingly slight touch was burning his skin, and it was causing him to pant uncontrollably. He lowered his eyes to find Koke’s obvious bulge.

“Gosh, you’re so hard!” He pointed out laughing. 

Koke covered his face with his hands. “I don’t even know what’s happening anymore!”

Antoine uncovered his face, pulling his hands apart, he expertly rolled his hips and Koke opened his mouth to groan, which Antoine used to give him the deepest of kisses. Raw and hungry, almost desperate. When he drew away, he spent a while admiring Koke’s face. He was smiling to him, panting heavily, and Antoine smiled back. Koke reached Antoine’s fringe and brushed it away from his face, appreciating his natural beauty. They probably spend a few seconds just staring at each other, without saying nothing, only the sound of their deep breathing filling the room. Some tired smiles shining proud on their faces.

Even before Koke could register it, Antoine’s face was far away from him, too far. He was now sitting on his crotch, still straddling his hips, and flashing a mischievous smile. His sweaty body glowed in the dim room, and an unmistakable wet patch adorned his white undies. 

“Make me stop if you don’t want this.” He said between his teeth. 

Koke wouldn’t stop him at this point. He didn’t care if this was crossing any lines between them, he knew he wanted it to continue. He was feeling complete.

Antoine combed his hair back with his fingers and looked at Koke’s awaiting face. He laid his palms flat on Koke’s stomach and then he gyrated his hips, letting his weight to stimulate Koke’s boner. He could perceive the whole length of Koke’s boner, how hard it was, and how hot it felt. He knew for a fact that it wouldn’t take long before Koke reached his orgasm. 

The electricity in the room had their bodies on fire. Koke was unashamedly cupping Antoine’s ass cheeks, kneading his firm flesh, and pushing him strongly against his body. Antoine emitted a surprised moan, as everything was actually quite unexpected for him, but the fact that Koke was begging for more was astonishing to him. His need was driving him crazy.

When both of them were close to the edge Antoine suddenly stopped and dismounted himself from Koke’s lap. He laid by his side and started kissing him passionately again. 

“Why did you stop?” Koke broke the kiss.

“Because I want to make you feel even better…” He replied introducing one of his hands right under the waistband of his underwear. When the tip of his fingers had crossed the tattoo line he looked at Koke asking for permission, he received a nod as an answer and he carried on.

His hand wrapped tenderly Koke’s wet shaft, and Koke shuddered at the touch. His deep breath caressed Antoine’s face, obtaining a chuckle from him. It was probably going to be a matter of a dozen of strokes, so Antoine wanted to make it last as long as possible. 

He pressed his lips against Koke’s. “Do I carry on?” 

The only answer he received was Koke clumsily searching for his lips to suck on them, to bite them lightly, and scrape their delicate skin with his teeth. Koke’s moans turned more and more sonorous. And every time he moaned out loud, Antoine felt his cock twitch, he couldn’t believe he was causing that reaction on his friend. 

The wetness inside Koke’s pants made Antoine’s hand to slide easily through his erection. Every time he reached the tip of his cock, he rubbed it with his thumb, eliciting intense groans from Koke’s throat. He was dying to suck him off right there, but he knew that something like that would be too intense for Koke, who was already melting under his touch. Koke’s body was visibly out of control, some of his muscles already spasming, announcing his close orgasm. His voice echoed in the room, making the atmosphere too hot to handle. 

Antoine’s arousal was painful and was demanding his attention, but he only had eyes, and hands, for Koke. When he felt all his muscles tensing, he kissed his forehead warmly and looked into his eyes. “Here we go.” He whispered seductively. And after increasing the pressure over Koke’s shaft, three firm strokes were enough to send him over the edge.

He emitted the most amazing sound Antoine had ever heard. He was gasping for air while his body was twitching and spasming during his intense orgasm. He had his eyes closed tightly and his hands moved erratically trying to find some points that would tie him to reality. Antoine was enjoying the show palming his erection with the hand that had caused chaos in Koke’s body, some remains of Koke’s sperm still glued to his fingers. 

When Koke was able to gain his conscience again he saw Antoine’s amused gaze stuck on him. His breathing was still heavy but he got to let some words out. “That was… insane.”

Antoine accepted the compliment with a tired smile and kept on rubbing his painful boner discreetly. “I need to fix this.” He said with a funny face.

Koke saw the evident bulge almost peaking out of his underwear. The wet patch was now noticeably bigger. “Can I… look?” He asked tentatively. Antoine reacted muttering a ‘fuck’ under his breath. Koke smiled at how fiery he was behaving.

Antoine laid down on his back, and with a swift movement he got rid of his underwear and his boner was hit by the air in the room, laying flat on his lower abs. He grabbed it with one of his hands and started moving it up and down. Koke admired the incessant rhythm and the expert motions. The leaking pre-cum was used by Antoine to lubricate his shaft, making it easier for him to increase the pace. His free hand was standing still on his belly, like he was trying to control his breathing.

He was now the vocal one. Grunting loudly and deepening his breathing. He turned his face to the side, to see Koke roaming his eyes all over his body, paying special attention to his face. Koke was enjoying seeing his blue eyes clouded by the lust and the passion. His lips rosier than ever after biting so much on them to hold back the moans, and after all those bruising kisses they had shared. 

Koke stroked his chest soothingly, causing goosebumps on Antoine’s skin. He rested his hand on top of Antoine’s, intertwining their fingers. He was planting kisses all over Antoine’s skin. On his collarbone he even left a love bite to remind him of this amazing night. He reached Antoine’s mouth, knowing how close he was to the edge. “Do it for me.” He whispered invitingly, his hot breath almost painful on Antoine’s punished lips. 

The electricity travelled all over Antoine’s body, waves of pleasure making him squirm, moan, twitch. He grabbed desperately Koke’s hand as it was the only thing supporting him. And then he came. His cum landing on his abs, and even reaching their hands. His sweaty body felt like millions of needles were piercing it, but it felt so good. 

He buried his face on Koke’s neck, trying to regain his breath. His friend stroking his head and giving kisses on top of it. A few seconds later Antoine finally reacted and rolled his body to lay on top of Koke, who received him with a strong embrace. 

They laid like that for minutes, maybe hours. Just standing still and enjoying each other’s support. A thin sheet covering their exhausted bodies. 

And they knew this was only the beginning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope the wait was worth it ;)


	25. Chapter 25

Waking up by his side was something else. His calm breathing tickled Antoine’s face, his scent impregnated the sheets, the pillow, everything. His warm body sheltered Antoine’s frame and protected it from the cold morning air.

Antoine was pretty sure he hadn’t been that happy in a long time. And he didn’t know if it was his heart playing tricks on him, but he could almost confirm that he hadn’t been that happy in his lifetime. He was now sure that Koke wanted to row in the same direction than him, only that his boat was a little bit slower. Antoine would wait. He would wait forever if it was necessary. He would wait for Koke to be ready to accept all the aspects of his true self. He would be patient enough to not rush things between them. He would be a perfect boyfriend for Koke… from the moment Koke was ready to acknowledge him as such. 

He turned around searching for his phone on the nightstand and checked the clock, he could sleep for a little longer if he wanted to. He felt Koke’s arm around his waist tensing, and pressing his back against Koke’s body.

“Hmmm… where are you going?” Koke whispered lazily, almost not pronouncing the words properly. 

“Nowhere, I’m right where I want to be.” Antoine replied softly, turning around to face Koke. Who had still his eyes closed.

Koke caressed tenderly Antoine’s back, reaching the beginning of his ass. “You’re still naked.” He noticed not surprised at all. He got to open his eyes slightly, finding Antoine’s cheeky smile.

“I’m still naked.” Antoine confirmed. “As you’re still a sticky mess.” He said poking Koke on his side.

“Ouch!” Koke complained. ”I would take a shower, but I just feel so good here, I don’t want to move.” 

“Seriously, you should move that lazy ass to the shower.” Antoine teased, kissing Koke’s cheek.

“You should do it too, you sweated so much last night.” Koke teased back, earning a sincere laugh from Antoine’s lips.

“Kokito, if you want me to shower with you, you just have to ask…” He said biting tenderly on Koke’s earlobe. Koke sighed deeply, as if he was trying to control himself. Antoine sucked softly on his pulse point, driving Koke crazy. 

“Just out of curiousity, do you have a plan to tease me every single moment of my life?” Koke asked, shifting closer. “Because, you know? I can also play that game…” And he pressed his lips against Antoine’s neck, gifting him short-lived kisses.

Antoine shuddered at Koke’s words. It wasn’t often that he showed that side of his personality, but it was so damn attractive and irresistible. He tangled his fingers on Koke’s hair and caressed his head. “You’re learning fast.”

“I have the best teacher.” Koke replied between kisses, getting closer to Antoine’s mouth. 

“Oh dear, you have still a lot to learn…” And with a swift movement Antoine escaped Koke’s embrace and left him alone in bed. He disappeared through the bathroom door, leaving it wide open. 

The next thing Koke could hear was the sound of the shower stream. He got up and peeked into the bathroom. He saw Antoine’s silhouette through the damp bath screen. He didn’t think it twice and it wasn’t late until he was joining him.

The water fell relentlessly over Antoine’s body, highlighting all the sculpted parts of his anatomy. He was washing his hair with his eyes closed. Koke took advantage and traced a line with his index finger from his nape to the small of his back, following the way the water drops were making. Antoine shivered and smiled. “I knew you wouldn’t resist it.” He noted in a triumphant tone. 

Koke kissed his shoulder and threw an arm around his waist, resting his palm against his stomach, rubbing circles. Antoine could feel Koke’s hardening cock against his ass cheeks, he gyrated his hips slowly to rub it. Koke moaned softly right into his ear, and he kept on drawing circles with his hand, going lower and lower, feeling the tension of Antoine’s abs. Right when he was reaching Antoine’s crotch, he changed the direction and continued his path down one of Antoine’s thighs, caressing softly the inner part of it, right where the skin is more sensitive.

Antoine had stilled his movements, letting Koke take control of the situation, looking forward how far he would want to get. He leaned his head back on Koke’s shoulder evidencing his complete trust on Koke. He felt Koke’s nails gently scraping his groin, his lips breathing hot air right in his jaw, and his other arm hugging his waist and pressing him closer. Koke had definitely learnt how to tease him and he was about to beg him, when Koke’s raspy voice resounded over the shower noise.

“Grizi there’s something I couldn’t do for you last night and I would really want to do it now.”

“Hmmm and what’s that?” Replied Antoine excited.

Koke’s hand brushed shyly against Antoine’s cock, his fingers holding it very delicately. Antoine almost couldn’t believe it.

“You don’t owe me anything. Do it if you really want to do it, don’t feel pressured to…”

Antoine couldn’t finish his sentence because Koke determinedly, closed his fist around his member drawing a gasp from his lips. He started moving his hand slowly up and down, adding the perfect amount of pressure. The pleasure was causing Antoine to groan deeply.

“Turn around.” Koke ordered. Antoine obeyed and his deep blue eyes encountered Koke’s sincere smile. He welcomed Antoine with a soft kiss, and pressed him against the wall, the only space between them was the one Koke’s hand needed to work on Antoine’s erection. “Last night I saw you enjoying yourself so much, that I wanted to be the one making you feel like that.”

Those words were too much for Antoine, and he crashed his lips against Koke’s sharing an intense kiss. His heart was pounding quickly into his chest, he was bursting out with joy. In that moment Koke’s number one priority was to make Antoine feel good, and that made him feel so proud. They were enjoying a really intimate moment, and Koke was taking control of it. They were doing what Koke wanted, Antoine hadn’t done anything to cause it, but it unavoidably happened. It’s like they were destined to be together, there was such a magnetic attraction between them that Antoine knew for a fact that he had never felt like this before. And judging by Koke’s acts, he was pretty sure he wasn’t the only one.

He let his hand slip down Koke’s side and held his erection, he was surprised when Koke grabbed his wrist tightly and took it away, pinning it against the wall, over his head. 

“This is about you, forget about me.” Koke announced intertwining his fingers with Antoine’s in that pinned hand. His other hand was working expertly Antoine’s shaft. 

It was difficult for Antoine to forget about him when he was feeling Koke’s boner digging in his groin, when Koke’s hand was working wonders with his painful erection, when Koke’s lips were all over his face, when his tongue licked his skin and it felt like burning… It was impossible to forget about him when he was invading all of Antoine’s five senses. 

Touch. Antoine’s not-pinned hand was holding Koke’s nape. Or was it the opposite? Because Koke’s nape was the point where he was supporting all his weight, his legs had surely withdrawn minutes ago. All of Koke’s caresses set fire to his skin. The goosebumps covered each inch of Antoine’s anatomy.

Sight. From time to time Koke would stop kissing him and would shot a wonderful smile to him. He was proud of what he was achieving, he was proud of being able to reduce Antoine into a quivering mess. He would smile and Antoine would melt a little inside, and he would smile back, the most amazing smile Koke had ever seen on Antoine’s face.

Smell. He was breathing Koke’s scent, and even if the shower water was trying to wash it away, his personal scent was still there. He didn’t have words to describe it, it just smelled like Koke. He loved when he used his clothes because they smelled like him for a while, and it was like being with him the whole time.

Hearing. A sweet something whispered into his ear. The unmistakable sound of skin rubbing, and the even more obvious one of skin slapping. Lip-sucking… All of those were part of the original soundtrack Antoine was enjoying that morning, but there was one that was on top of all of them: Koke’s joy. It would be a soft laugh, it would be a deep sigh… every sound he was emitting was delicious, and Antoine was working hard on not to be too vocal just to enjoy all of them. He knew Koke loved his uncontrolled moans but he wanted to store in his brain all the things his ears were capturing. To save them for posterity.

Taste. It was difficult to rank what he was enjoying the most, but he was used to see, touch, smell and hear Koke on a daily basis. What it didn’t happen that often is that he had now the privilege to taste him. His sweet personal taste was almost a drug for Antoine, once he tried it, he wanted more and more. When he kissed him once, he couldn’t stop there, he had to kiss him twice, three times… His tongue, his lips, even the taste of his skin was addictive. Antoine was looking forward to explore new places to taste, but he knew he had to be patient. The sole thought of that made him let out a hard moan he couldn’t suppress.

Koke stopped in his tracks and looked at him concerned. “Are you alright?” He found Antoine’s eyes clouded by the lust, his face giving away that he wasn’t paying attention. “Are you ok?” Koke repeated slowly.

Antoine’s face showed a sincere smile. He set his other hand free and placed it next to the other one right on Koke’s nape, hugging his neck tightly. “I think I’ve never been more ok in my life.” He confessed, pushing Koke closer and pressing his lips together. “But I want it harder.” He asked in a fierce whisper that echoed in Koke’s body.

The motions of Koke’s hand turned faster, the pressure of his fist increased on Antoine’s member and both of them knew it wouldn’t take him long. Koke had that ‘harder’ glued to his brain. He didn’t know a word could turn him on, but apparently it was possible. In fact, that ‘harder’ had made his cock twitch painfully. He could feel Antoine’s hands holding onto his neck, his nails almost digging into his skin. 

The water drops fell on Antoine’s burning body, almost evaporating at the touch. He felt incredibly on fire, despite all that water trying to cool him down. His erratic kisses and his trembling legs announced the inevitable. He groaned loudly as he was getting closer to the edge. Koke had placed his other arm around his waist, giving him a bit of support now that his legs had finally given up. He closed his eyes and placed his chin on Koke’s shoulder, sending his passionate moans directly into Koke’s ear. Koke hugged him firmly with his free arm, his other hand not showing signs of exhaustion and punishing relentlessly Antoine’s erection. 

At that point Antoine had lost all coherency, he could barely talk, he just could emit primitive noises, but he had enough sense to grab Koke’s body desperately to not fall into the ground. Koke motivated him with short sentences. ‘Come on Grizi!’ ‘Do it for me.’

And he did it. An electrifying orgasm took his body by storm. The incoherent noises turned into shouts that made his throat hurt. There were even some shy tears forming on his closed eyes which would mix with the shower water and would disappear through the drain. He was gasping for air desperately, while Koke had stopped stimulating his oversensitive cock and was running his hands over his torso soothingly.

Koke was admiring Antoine’s features. His eyes were still closed, his mouth was forming a perfect ‘O’ while he was fighting to get fresh air for his lungs, his face was all flushed. When Antoine opened his eyes Koke could almost read Antoine’s soul in them. His dilated pupils, some remaining tears, the shiny blue colour... those eyes were sparkling. Those eyes were smiling. Even if Antoine’s red lips were busy recovering his breath, his eyes were smiling for him, he couldn’t hide it.

Finally Antoine recovered a bit of his consciousness and flashed a shy smile, he had made such a show of himself he was almost embarrassed. He caressed Koke’s face, looking deeply into his eyes, communicating with him without words. He was happy. He was very happy. Koke knew it, and replied by brushing his lips softly against Antoine’s cheek. 

Time seemed to stop. The rushed sex scene was followed by some very careful cuddling, slow and warm. Their motions turned almost inappreciable, the only accelerated thing was their heartbeats and the shower stream. Antoine’s hand glided all over Koke’s back, he rested it on one of his ass cheeks and kneaded softly the flesh there. Koke unconsciously pressed his body against Antoine’s and it’s when Antoine noticed that Koke wasn’t done yet. Despite his probably painful boner, he was still gifting Antoine slow caresses and brief kisses. ‘It’s all about you’ Antoine remembered with a smile on his lips. He pressed his palm firmly against Koke’s butt, to increase the pressure on his cock but as soon as Koke noticed, he moved away from him. 

“I will take care of that later, don’t even worry.” Koke whispered into his ear, biting the ear lobe in the process. Antoine shuddered, he couldn’t believe how Koke could control himself like that. That self-control was a huge turn-on for him. 

Koke’s hands continued tickling his skin, and his body kept on warming Antoine up. “Ok, but if you continue like this I’m going to get hard again in almost no time.” Antoine confessed pulling out a funny face, causing Koke to laugh and roll his eyes. “I think I better go to make breakfast before we get in trouble.” Antoine announced. Koke nodded and Antoine left him in the shower privacy to sort himself out, saying goodbye to him with a passionate kiss.

 

“I swear to God you’re the worst!” Antoine could hear Koke complaining in the distance, he kept on making breakfast with a half-smile. Koke appeared in the kitchen wearing the underwear Antoine had left him. The tacky heart-stamped fabric stood up from miles away. “Everybody is going to laugh at me!”

Antoine flashed a smug grin. “Kokito, I need something to distract people from the marks I’ve left on your body. so don’t complain.” Koke started to inspect his body because he hadn’t seen any kind of marks. Antoine interrupted him. “Some scratches on your back, two or three faint lovebites on your neck, and well, there’s how red and plump your lips look right now.” He explained in a very calm voice. Koke looked at him panicking just to find Antoine’s proud and annoying smile. “I just got a bit carried away.” He announced in an innocent tone, pouring a glass of orange juice for Koke.

“People is going to notice!” Koke exclaimed scared. 

“I don’t think so, you have a cat, some of those marks are easy to explain.” He said offering the glass to Koke.

“And what about the rest?” Koke asked anxious, clutching the glass.

“Well, I trust you to be good at lying.” Antoine replied eating some grapes with a carefree expression. “Isn’t it thrilling?” He teased raising an eyebrow.

Koke thought about it for a second and then his face relaxed. Everything about Antoine was so exciting that he couldn’t stay stressed for too long. “You’re an evil bastard!” He joked.

“Your evil bastard.” Antoine pointed out.

“You are lucky that I like you so much.” Koke laughed.

“Lucky is the word.” Antoine muttered.


	26. Chapter 26

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Reminder: Cursive parts are supposed to be in French.
> 
> Enjoy!

When they arrived to Atleti training facilities, Koke was feeling quite anxious. He was deadly afraid of being discovered by his teammates. Tiago had already shown him that he was pretty terrible at lying, and even Simeone had noticed his different relationship with Antoine. He tapped nervously on the steering wheel after switching the engine off.

“Breathe.” Antoine said with a calming voice tone.

“Grizi, if you see that people start asking me annoying questions, I trust you to save me, because if we depend on my lying abilities, we’re fucked.” Koke recognized.

“Good, I like challenges.” He said carefree, opening the car’s door.

Luckily they had arrived quite early to the training and they were the first players in there, so Koke could change into the training gear without any nosy eyes looking at him.

They stepped into the training pitch, waiting for the rest of their teammates to join them. A few people of the training staff were placing items on the grass to make some exercises later. They decided to train some direct free kicks to kill time. Right when they were doing it, Simeone and Profe Ortega appeared and started watching their efforts.

Simeone watched them carefully, analyzing their every move. They encouraged each other to improve, they shared tips on how to hit the ball in a better position, and they checked each other to find the mistakes they were making when the shots weren’t good. That’s when Simeone noticed that they were a good influence for each other, and he hoped that they would never hurt themselves, as they seemed quite a good team when they were happy. He smiled when he saw them rehearsing some weird handshake, and he shook his head, they were just big kids.

The rest of the team arrived a few minutes later and they all started one training more under Ortega’s strict orders. Simeone and Burgos watched every exercise, paying special attention to the new players.

“Wow, Griezmann’s on fire today!” Burgos noted the Frenchman efforts. Not only he was completing every part of the training successfully, but he also was showing a somehow new attitude. More energetic, more powerful, and stronger than ever before. He ran faster, he fought every tackle, he scored in every chance, and he didn’t look short of breath or slightly tired. Even his teammates noticed and praised him for it, especially Gabi, who felt he was being a great influence for the young player. If only he knew.

An hour later the training was over and Antoine decided to stay, practicing the free kicks as he had done with Koke at the beginning of the session. Some of his teammates stood there watching him, and some even challenged him. But they kept on disappearing from the pitch.

He had spent around half an hour practicing, when people started coming out the locker room already in their street clothes. Some kept on watching the show, some others went home. Koke had already showered and was joining some of his teammates in the bench where they were sitting watching Antoine, Saul was even making videos of his best goals. A few minutes later one of the physios called him. “Antoine, we’re waiting for you, it’s turn for your massage.” Antoine nodded, nailing one last shot, gaining a round of applause from the team.

When he was about to enter the locker room he saw his teammates leaving and Koke waiting for him outside, he did a gesture so Koke would join them in the locker room. When Koke arrived he found Antoine already lying on his stomach checking his phone, receiving a leg massage from one of the physios. The man saw him arriving and joked. “Antoine you should have seen Koke’s boxers, I’ve not seen anything uglier in my life!”

Antoine laughed, with his eyes glued to the screen. “Kokito, how about you learn a bit about fashion from a guru like me?”

Koke rolled his eyes. “If you’re going to team up against me, I better wait for you outside!”

The three of them laughed and commented on the training while the expert hands of the man kept on kneading Antoine’s tired muscles. Antoine received a lot of compliments from the physio about his kick-ass training. Apparently everybody had noticed.

“You know what? I just feel very happy today and I guess that’s the reason.” He explained, glancing over Koke, who was admiring the massage mind-absently, but smiling at Antoine’s words.

When the massage was done, Antoine took a quick shower and left the locker room with Koke, just as they had arrived. They both sat in the car before leaving the training facilities.

“So, the ugly underwear trick worked?” Antoine asked excitedly.

“It seems so. I don’t give you enough credit, but I must admit you’re pretty clever.”

That made Antoine smile widely. “Say that again.”

Koke rolled his eyes. “You’re very clever.” He said reluctantly between teeth.

“Now say that I’m very hot!” Antoine smiled smugly.

“What can I do for you to shut the fuck up?” Koke asked exhausted.

“You could keep my lips busy…” Antoine suggested raising an eyebrow.

Koke checked through the windshield and saw that the garage was empty. He leaned over and kissed Antoine briefly. When he was drawing away, Antoine grabbed his head firmly and deepened the kiss. A few seconds later they were surprised by a beeping horn.

They broke the kiss, startled, searching the origin of the sound only to find Tiago waving from his car, parked in front of them. He signaled his eye and then he made a sign which appeared to say ‘be careful, there could be someone watching’. Koke thanked all the Gods that it had been Tiago the one catching them and he suddenly noticed how easy was to lose control when he was with Antoine.

“Oh shit.” Antoine muttered.

“Don’t worry, we’re safe with Tiago. But we better leave this place before we fuck up more.” Koke decided, and he started the engine as soon as he could, leaving the training facilities at the speed of light. Not before waving Tiago goodbye.

 

It was already nighttime when the doorbell of Antoine’s house rang. He wasn’t surprised when he saw it was Koke on the other side.

“Come on in! I was watching a movie!” Antoine exclaimed in his usual cheerful tone. “I wasn’t expecting you, there aren’t NBA games tonight.”

“Since when I need a NBA game as an excuse to see you?” Koke noted with a cheeky smile.

Antoine felt chills down his spine. “Fair enough.” He said laughing softly.

Koke entered the house and walked to the living room, some sort of sci-fi movie was playing on TV. He sat on the sofa and Antoine sat next to him.

He was feeling a bit awkward because he didn’t know how to approach Koke. He wasn’t sure if the intimacy would be a bit overwhelming for him, if he was ready to start a proper relationship, and if it was an appropriate moment. Of course some barriers had disappeared between them, as they had crossed the “close friendship” line without a doubt, but they were in that uncertain zone between “more than a friendship” and being boyfriends. And it always felt difficult for Antoine to break the ice when they were alone.

“What are you watching?” Koke asked, placing his hand on Antoine’s knee and drawing circles with his fingers.

“‘The Avengers’ but I’m not paying too much attention to be honest. I was just waiting to be sleepy enough to go to bed… So, why are you here?” He questioned looking at Koke through his fluttering eyelashes.

Koke shrugged his shoulders. “I like to be with you.” He pointed out in the most natural tone, making it sound so blatantly obvious.

“How much?” Antoine arched an eyebrow and scooted closer to Koke, flashing a shy smile.

Koke placed his lips on Antoine’s temple and kissed the spot there. Then he nuzzled his nose on the short hair on the side of his head, to end up right over his ear. “More than anything else.” He whispered letting out a soft laugh at the end of the sentence which made Antoine’s knees feel weak.

“Hmmm I feel so powerful.” Antoine reached the side of Koke’s face and traced his stubble with his index finger, pouting his lips at him, and looking into his eyes. He knew Koke couldn’t resist his beautiful blue eyes.

“Kiss me.” Koke let out, shocking Antoine with his eagerness.

Antoine bit his lower lip. “If you want to kiss me, go and kiss me. Don’t be a coward asking me to do it.” He teased.

“I am not a coward!” Koke complained. “I’m just… encouraging you to do it.”

He earned a soft laugh from Antoine. “As if I needed any encouragement…” Antoine admitted and closed up the gap between them as much as he could without doing it completely. “But how about if it’s you the one who kisses me?” He defied. “What’s stopping you?”

Koke felt Antoine’s hot breath tickling his face, as if he had blown a challenge into his lips. He decided to not delay it anymore and he finally forgot about his ego. They shared a warm and slow kiss that seemed almost endless. They would interrupt it for a second to breathe a bit of fresh air and they continued it, making it deeper and deeper every time.

At some point Antoine interrupted the kiss by yawning, Koke looked puzzled at him. “Am I boring you?” He asked raising an eyebrow.

Antoine blushed. “I’m sorry, I’m just so tired.”

“After your training today, I can believe it. Come here.” Koke suggested, making Antoine lie down. He placed Antoine’s head on his knees and he put a cushion between his legs and Antoine’s head to make it more comfortable. He started to run his fingers soothingly through his hair. “This will help you.”

Koke’s other hand rested on Antoine’s chest, rubbing circles over the shirt. Antoine closed his eyes and breathed deeply, with a smile painted on his face. He was almost asleep when his phone started ringing. He searched for it in one of his pockets quite annoyed. “Oh it’s a Facetime call from Maud!” Even if he was terribly tired, talking to his sister was always a good thing to do. “Do you mind if I answer?” Antoine asked to Koke, who replied with a nod to the phone, inviting him to talk to his sister.

_“Hi Maud!”_

_“Hi sweetie. You have a tired face, were you sleeping? Wait, what time is it over there?”_

_“Midnight, but don’t worry, I wasn’t asleep yet. How are you?”_

_“I’m fine! I just wanted to catch up a bit, we’ve not talked in a week!”_

_“You’re right, I’m sorry, I’ve been quite busy!”_

_“I bet you are, if you have company at midnight on a weekday.” She hinted raising an eyebrow._

_“What?” Antoine answered disoriented._

_“Darling, I can see a hand on your hair… who’s your guest?”_

Antoine hesitated, he didn’t know if telling his sister was a good idea or not. He pressed the phone against his chest and looked at Koke, doubting.

“What’s up?” Koke asked concerned, he noticed Antoine’s doubtful face.

“Maud saw that I’m not alone and she wants to know who’s with me.” He whispered.

“And what’s the problem?” Koke asked innocently.

Antoine rolled his eyes. “Hello? At this time of the night... a man in my house?”

 _“I can’t understand you but I can hear you!”_ Maud’s voice singsonged from the other side of the line.

Koke shrugged his shoulders. “So what? Just tell her it’s me, she will think we’re playing videogames or whatever.”

Antoine rolled his eyes again, this time even more evidently. “Nobody goes to play videogames with people at midnight.”

_“Antoine if you don’t pay attention to me right now I’m catching a plane just to kick your butt!”_

Koke laughed softly and Antoine thought what had he done to deserve all of this. He picked up the phone.

 _“Ok, I will show you… just behave!”_ He warned to his sister.

 _“I don’t get why you say that, I should…”_ And when she was mid-sentence, Antoine sat down next to Koke, and she could see the two of them. She stood there with her mouth open for a few seconds until she reacted. _“Oh my God, it’s Smiley!”_ She said gaining a nasty glance from Antoine.

“Hi Maud!” Koke waved excitedly to the screen.

Maud waved back to the camera. _“Antoine, what is exactly doing Smiley at your place, at midnight, on a weekday?”_ She asked not as subtly as she tried to.

 _“He… well, we… it’s just… we were playing videogames!”_ Antoine replied and he cursed himself for being such a bad liar.

 _“Oh my God!”_ She exclaimed _“The fact that you lied to me so flagrantly could only mean one thing…”_

Koke looked confused at the screen and then looked at Antoine who had a terrified face.

“Grizi, what’s going on?”

“I think she just found out...” Antoine replied biting his lower lip and scrunching his face

“Oh.” Koke only guessed to say, opening his eyes wide. Maud would be officially the first person to know that they were together, after Tiago, but Tiago already knew before so Maud would be the first one hearing it from them. He could feel the vertigo and grabbed a bit of Antoine’s shirt on his fist, like a little scared kid grabbing onto his parents’ hands.

 _“So what that could mean?”_ Antoine finally asked, defying his sister’s intelligence.

_“Do you think I’m stupid? Honey, I’ve seen your face during your whole life, I can perfectly perceive when you have your dumb puppy-in-love face. You looked happy the last time I visited you, but right now you’re glowing!”_

Antoine smiled defeated, it was useless to pretend in front of his sister. She was probably the human being who could understand him better on Earth.

_“But, how? You told me he wasn’t into guys!”_

_“And he wasn’t, but apparently he has discovered that he likes me very much. Please don’t overreact or anything, he’s still quite insecure about this whole thing and I don’t want you to scare him away!”_ Antoine begged.

_“Darling this is wonderful! I told you he looked at you with different eyes! I told you!”_

“She seems happy.” Koke pointed out.

Antoine nodded proudly. “Remember when she visited me a few weeks ago? She noticed that I was in love with you since the very first moment she saw us together. She actually said that she had not seen me like that ever before. So she really wanted this to happen.”

Koke’s face turned deadly serious and he stared at Antoine who looked back at him with a scared face. “What?” Antoine asked worried, putting the phone down for a moment.

“It… It is the first time you say it out loud.”

“That I say what?”

“That you are in love with me.”

Antoine showed a shocked face at the realization. He had blurted that out without thinking, and even if it was pretty obvious at this point, he had just confessed his love for Koke.

“I… I’ve always wanted to say it out loud, but I’ve never done it because I didn’t want to overwhelm you.” Antoine admitted quite vulnerably.

 _“Hey guys, I’m still here!”_ Maud broke the beautiful moment between them.

“Such a mood breaker!” Antoine exclaimed while Koke sniggered. _“Maud, I think we should go to sleep, if you want details just call me tomorrow and I will tell you everything.”_

 _“Ok, I get it, you want to be alone.”_ She said cheesily. _“Take care honey!”_

_“Don’t tell anybody yet, please!”_

_“Oh, I won’t! Bye Koke!”_ She waved and then finished the call.

Antoine exhaled some air and left his phone on the table. Switching it off. He turned his face to Koke who was staring at him.

“Say it again.” Koke asked, with a serious face.

“Say what?” Antoine teased.

“Please.” Koke’s face was still so serious.

“I am in love with you.” Antoine smiled sighing nervously, it was like taking off a huge pressure off his shoulders.

A few seconds later Koke was wordlessly hugging him. Antoine noticed his heart pounding in his chest and tried to calm him down. “Hey, what happens?” He asked softly.

“I’m scared.” Koke confessed in a whisper.

Antoine broke the hug and looked into his eyes, cupping Koke’s jaw with his palm. His thumb was rubbing Koke’s cheek tenderly.

“Grizi… I am… blocked.”

A soft laugh escaped from Antoine’s lips. “Kokito, those words are very big, I understand if you can’t say them out loud. But I know what you feel for me and that’s all I care about.”

Koke pressed his forehead against Antoine’s and exhaled deeply. He felt frustrated, he wanted to tell Antoine that he loved him because he really meant it, but somehow the order got lost between his brain and his throat. He had never told anybody that he was in love with them. He had only shared ‘I love you’s’ with his family members and friends, but it was a different kind of love. He knew that confessing his love for Antoine would mark a turning point in his life, and he felt small at the thought.

“Give yourself time. Maybe we’re going too fast?” Antoine doubted out loud

“Too fast?” Koke laughed ironically. “Come on, I know you have all of your brakes working at full capacity… And to be honest with you, I’m also holding myself back a bit, I don’t want to get a bit carried away by the heat of the moment and regret it later because we ‘went too fast.’ So yeah, I think we’re doing it well.”

Antoine breathed relieved, he didn’t want to give steps backwards, not now that he had tasted how it felt being that close with Koke. He didn’t want to give up on that.

“So we can continue cuddling and kissing and it will be fine for you?” Antoine asked just to be completely sure.

“It will be more than fine. And I promise that there will be a day when neither of us will have to restrain ourselves anymore.” Koke assured triggering a toothy smile on Antoine.

“Until then.. let’s go to bed, ok?” Antoine suggested kissing softly Koke’s lips.

“Sure!” Koke replied grabbing Antoine’s hand and walking to his room without hesitation.

Antoine smiled excitedly when he noticed that he’d be lucky enough to sleep again tangled in Koke’s embrace.


	27. Chapter 27

Antoine had woken up happy, as he always did when he shared his mattress with Koke. He left him on the bed sleeping a bit more and he walked to the living room, where he had left his phone the night before, he switched it on to discover that he had received a text from his Mum:

_“Hey sweetheart, it’s been a long time since we talked to each other, I’d like to Skype with you whenever you have time.”_

Antoine checked his clock and he saw that he had quite a while until Koke woke up, so he decided it’d be a good moment to do it. He started his laptop and called his Mum, who welcomed him with a very happy face.

_“You’ve forgotten about me or what?”_ She scolded him.

_“I’m sorry Mum, I’ve been very busy.”_ Antoine apologized.

_“Yeah, I bet you’ve been.”_ She said in a teasy tone.

_“What do you mean?”_

_“Well, I’ve heard you’re spending a lot of time with a… friend.”_ She continued, adding emphasis in the word ‘friend’.

Antoine rolled his eyes. Of course Maud would run to tell his mother the last gossip of his love life, they loved to do that. For a moment he fully understood how private Koke keep these things.

_“Ok, what has exactly Maud told you?”_ Antoine accepted, feeling defeated. Earning a triumphant laugh from his Mother.

_“She says that your new boyfriend is super cute.”_

_“Mum, he’s not my boyfriend.”_ Antoine explained shyly.

_“You can give it the name you want, but she says that you two are together… And happy.”_

_“You know Maud, she likes to make things up. There’s a lot of fantasy going on her head.”_ Of course Antoine was dying to tell his Mum about his relationship with Koke, but if she knew, she would literally tell every family member, and Antoine would have hundreds of messages in the next hours. He didn’t want that to happen yet.

_“You can say whatever you want, but honey, your eyes are sparkling.”_ She replied warmly.

In that moment Koke appeared in the living room, out of the camera angle. He saw Antoine speaking French.

“Morning! What is going on?”

“Hi! I’m talking to my Mum.”

“What happened?” Koke asked concerned, noticing the seriousness in Antoine’s face.

“Maud happened.” Antoine said rolling his eyes.

Koke once again panicked, feeling too exposed. Antoine saw it in his eyes and tried to act as normal as possible.

“Come here and say hi to her.”

Koke doubted for a second but accepted the invitation, and waved politely to the woman on the screen.

“Hello, I’m Koke, a good friend of your son. I’m here to pick him up to go training.” He explained.

Antoine translated into French and his Mum smiled condescendingly.

_“Oh my God, he’s so bad at lying. How endearing!”_ She blurted out, making Antoine blush.

“Koke, I didn’t open the door and I’ve been talking to her for a while, how come you could come in to pick me up?” Antoine evidenced how fragile Koke’s lie was.

“I don’t know. Maybe I was in the toilet?”

Antoine glared at him, and his Mum was holding back the laughter. Koke furrowed his brows.

“And so what? She doesn’t know I spent the night here. And if she did, she doesn’t have a way to know that I’ve spent a lot of nights here.” Koke continued, confused at why Antoine was facepalming.

Antoine’s Mum couldn’t handle it anymore and bursted out laughing, witnessed by Koke’s confused eyes.

“Wha… what happens?” Koke asked.

“Koke, my Mum is Portuguese, which obviously means she’s fluent in Portuguese, which is a language that happens to be quite similar to Spanish…” Antoine explained, his face turning red. Koke’s face displayed a mixture of disbelief and confusion. “She can understand quite a lot of Spanish.” He confirmed, his Mum’s laughs still resounding out the laptop.

“Oh shit.” Koke muttered. He wanted the Earth to swallow him at that moment.

“Don’t worry, she had assumed it anyway.” Antoine explained. “I apparently am an open book to my family members, so I don’t have to open my mouth and say anything, they just read how I’m feeling in my face.”

_“So, is he your boyfriend?”_ Antoine’s Mum asked again, recovering from the laughter.

“She wants to know if you’re my boyfriend.” Antoine translated. He didn’t want to be the one answering that question. For once, he would leave Koke do the talking.

Koke hesitated for a few seconds. He looked at the screen where the kind woman was looking forward his answer, and then looked back at Antoine, who was quite expectant too. When he admired his spectacular blue eyes he felt at peace, he didn’t care about people knowing, he was proud of being the one who made those beautiful eyes shine.

“Yes.” Koke said gluing his eyes to Antoine’s, ignoring the camera capturing them. The corners of Antoine’s mouth reacted showing what it was a shy smile. “I’m his boyfriend.”

Then the silence filled up the room. Antoine and Koke were staring at each other, enjoying the magic of the moment. Antoine’s Mum witnessed everything, grinning with her hands under her chin.

_“I see… I’m delighted for both of you.”_ She noticed how the young men weren’t even paying attention to her anymore _. “Honey, I will call you in another moment, take care!”_ And she went offline.

Antoine stood up and faced Koke. His heart was racing and his whole body was trembling.

“Do you really mean it or you just said it to make my Mum shut up?” Antoine asked in disbelief.

“Well…” Koke said holding Antoine’s hands. “I’ve asked you several times to put a name to it and you always replied that it’d be me the one doing it as I was the only one obsessed with name tags. So I’ve decided that it’s a good moment to put a name to it.”

Antoine squeezed Koke’s hands in an effort to check that this was really happening and it wasn’t just a cruel dream.

“Grizi, do you want to be my boyfriend?” He asked already knowing the answer, but he knew Antoine loved when he was that cheesy.

“You’re so silly!” Antoine laughed feeling happier than ever, he couldn’t almost believe what Koke had just said. He played with Koke’s fingers nervously. “You know I don’t need those words to know what you feel.” He shrugged his shoulders, he didn’t want Koke to feel pressured to say that kind of things, as they probably were a huge deal for him.

“And what do I feel?” Koke said, getting closer to Antoine.

“You love me.” Antoine replied in a defying tone, flashing a smug smile.

“How come you’re so sure?” Koke asked, keeping enough distance to admire the beauty of Antoine’s beaming face.

Antoine snorted. “You treat me like I’m the most precious thing in the World.” He tried to close the gap between them but Koke kept the distance, teasing him.

“That’s because maybe you’re the most precious thing in the World.” Koke admitted, walking away from Antoine’s efforts to catch him.

“Do you really think it’s a good idea to feed my ego like that?” Antoine asked raising an eyebrow.

“Yeah I just probably should say what you want to hear and then shut up for good.”

“I just want to hear it if you really want to say it.”

“Okay.” Koke said shrugging his shoulders. Not adding anything else after that word.

Antoine couldn’t help feeling a bit disappointed, he thought he was so close to listen those words from Koke’s lips but apparently today wouldn’t be the day. He would continue being patient, after all, Koke had said the word ‘boyfriend’ out loud in front of his Mother, and that was such a huge accomplishment.

“I’m letting you down, right?” Koke asked, noticing the change in Antoine’s features.

“Oh no! Don’t ever think that” I appreciate every single step you take. I’m so proud of you.” Antoine explained comfortingly, playing again with Koke’s hands.

“So… We’re boyfriends now?” Koke asked innocently.

Antoine let out a sonorous laugh. “We’re whatever you want us to be.”

“What does that mean?”

“Why should we let a word to describe us when we’re so sure of the things we feel?”

“I don’t know, that’s what people do.” Koke reasoned. “Do you feel uncomfortable using the word ‘boyfriend’?”

“A little bit.” Antoine confessed.

“Why?” Koke asked confused.

“Because it’s not a word big enough. You can be my boyfriend, but I prefer thinking you’re my soulmate, my everything, my life…” Antoine explained, with a serious face, truth painted in his blue eyes.

Koke felt overwhelmed by all those big words. He meant so much for Antoine and then there was himself, who wasn’t able to say a simple ‘I love you’ out loud. He felt stupid and immature, Antoine deserved all the beautiful words in the world and he couldn’t say them. Unable to speak after Antoine’s wonderful words, Koke hugged him tightly, almost crushing his body. Antoine chuckled and ran his hands through his back, comforting him. Koke’s grab tightened, and it was like he was using his body to say the things his mouth couldn’t express.

“I know.” Antoine whispered reassuringly. Koke’s accelerated pulse echoing through his body was all Antoine needed in that moment. Each heartbeat was better than a thousand words. His heart racing faster and faster was more descriptive than the most beautiful of sentences.

“Grizi…” Koke muttered. “You’re so important to me.”

Antoine’s heart melted on the spot. He broke the hug just to admire Koke’s face. He looked so serious but so sincere. His brown eyes were pure and he had his eyebrows furrowed, in a worried sign. Koke’s confession painted a smile on Antoine’s lips, that were ready to kiss Koke’s in a short but heartfelt kiss. Before going on for a second one, Antoine paused for a second.

“I’m so lucky to have you. I love you.” He whispered into Koke’s lips. And then he kissed him again, slow and meaningful.

Those words were music to Koke’s ears. He felt so loved by Antoine, almost pampered by him, that he felt the urge to respond.

“Me too.” He let out in his raspy voice.

Antoine looked at him biting his lower lip, flashing a sweet smile, before continuing the kiss. He intertwined his fingers with Koke’s and held his hands tightly, his knuckles turning white. His heart pumped frantically in his ribcage, and his knees felt weak.

He was wrong. Words really mattered to him.


	28. chapter 28

Another training session had finished, this one right before a match, and Antoine could feel the confidence building up in him. His last week of trainings had been out of this world and everybody seemed very happy for him. 

He was in the half-empty locker room, sitting next to Koke, when Tiago approached them. 

“Hey guys, I just wanted to let you know that I’m very happy for you.” He said with a big smile.

“Thank you, but could we talk about this anywhere else, please?” Koke whispered, he could see how many of their teammates were walking around and he didn’t want more people to know yet. He felt like too many people knew already and that was stressing him quite a lot.

The three of them left the room and walked to a lonely corridor which lead to one of the offices, that was empty at the moment.

“So… I see you want to keep this private, right?” Tiago asked them in a discreet voice tone.

“If it depended on me…” Antoine let out quietly, gaining a hush from Koke.

“Yes, we want to keep it secret, by now.” Koke told Tiago with a stern face

“I understand, I think it’s for the better if you feel that people would be weird about it.” Tiago answered, knowing pretty well how Koke felt.

“Weird about what?” A voice interrupted them, echoing through the corridor.

The three of them turned around to see Saul leaning on the wall. 

“Oh, it’s nothing!” Antoine reacted quickly, shaking his head.

“I hope you three don’t expect me to believe that you left the locker room to talk privately here about ‘nothing’” Saul replied raising an eyebrow.

“If you know it’s private why the fuck are you here?” Koke reacted in a very irritated tone which surprised everybody. Especially Saul, who looked at him with a hurt expression.

“Oh Kokito, this must be serious…” He said walking to them, his voice turning more worried.. “Come on, you can trust me, I’m your friend.”

“Seriously, it’s nothing.” Koke emphasized with a tone which suggested Saul to drop it.

“If you don’t tell me, I will shout that you’re here sharing secrets and then everybody will want to know.” Saul reacted, making Antoine silently laugh. Tiago rolled his eyes at how silly they all were behaving.

“Come on, that’s just childish!” Koke complained.

“Gabi!” Saul shouted staring at Koke with a defying gaze.

Koke gritted his teeth, and as soon as he saw the silhouette of their Captain appearing through the corridor he hurriedly whispered. “Ok, I will tell you, but please stop it!”

“You called me?” Gabi asked from afar. 

“I just wanted to know if you remember the name of that amazing physio we had some seasons ago. I can’t remember.” Saul asked innocently. He could almost hear Koke sighing relieved. “You know, the one with the round glasses and the weird moustache.”

“I think his name was Oscar.” Gabi answered.

“Thank you.” Saul said, turning around again to face Koke, Antoine and Tiago. As soon as Gabi left, he continued talking now more excitedly. “Ok, who’s gonna spill the beans?”

“I will, but not here, let’s go to my place or something.” Koke asked shyly, feeling defeated by his friend’s clever move. 

Saul nodded, and Tiago gave a poor excuse about not being able to join them. Saving himself from the potential awkwardness of Koke’s reveal.

 

Half an hour later, the three young men had reached Koke’s place, and as soon as they entered the house, Saul was petting Romeo. 

“You know my dogs are awesome but I love Romeo, he behaves like a dog! He’s probably the only cat I can tolerate.”

After receiving a severe side-eye from Koke, the three of them sat in the sofa. Koke was incredibly nervous about talking to one of his friends about his recent self-discovery. Antoine was also nervous for Koke, he knew Saul was one of his best friends on the team, and he was crossing his fingers for a positive reaction from him, or it would be completely devastating for Koke.

“Come on! I can’t wait anymore. What’s that thing so secret and important?” Saul exclaimed cheerfully, rubbing his hands together.

“Saul, this is pretty personal, so I hope you can understand how difficult this is for me…”

“Whatever you have to tell me, you’ve been able to share it with Grizi and Tiago, so it should be easier with me, right?” Saul asked arching his eyebrows. “We know each other since forever.”

Koke snorted ironically. “It’s not that simple.”

“For God’s sake! Grizi, do you want to tell me Koke’s secret instead? I can’t stand him being all mysterious and shit.” Antoine negated with his head, making Saul feel more and more impatient. Koke cleared his throat.

“During the last couple of months I’ve discovered things about myself that I didn’t know before.” Koke started his explanation. 

“Is it something bad?” Saul interrupted him worried.

“No, it’s definitely something good. But please, could you shut your big mouth?” Koke begged gaining a silent snigger from Antoine. “Well, I’ve recently found out that… how to say it? I like things that I didn’t know I liked before.”

“Are you making this big deal because you’ve discovered new food? Because if it’s that, it’s just so ridic…”

“Men, I like men!” Koke blurted out without giving it a thought, shutting Saul up in the process. Even Antoine was surprised at the lack of smoothness in his words.

Saul stared at him with his mouth finally closed, just nodding, digesting Koke’s words.

“I’ve even started a relationship with another man.” Koke confessed lowering his voice, feeling one of Antoine’s hands in his back, caressing him reassuringly.

Saul kept on nodding with a blank face. Koke was starting to feel nervous and scared.

“Saul, could you please say anything?” Koke urged him.

“It’s just that… a lot of things make sense now!” Saul finally opened his mouth. “The lack of interest for girls in general, how uncomfortable you feel when talking about personal stuff… Man, I’m so glad you finally figured it out!” He exclaimed with a smile on his face.

“Don’t you think it’s weird that someone discovers this kind of stuff this late in life?” Koke asked, still not believing how supportive his friend was being.

“No way! One of my Mom’s workmates ended his marriage after 20 years together with his wife because he had fallen in love with another man. I guess every person has a different moment.” Saul explained. “Now I understand!” He shouted out of the blue a second later, scaring Antoine and Koke. “That’s why you were talking to Tiago!”

Saul had connected the dots, and he understood that if Koke could talk to someone in the locker room about that kind of feelings, that person was Tiago. Everybody knew about Tiago and Filipe, so it was the most obvious choice. And he acted as a bit of a Father to most of them, so he would be the person giving Koke the best possible advices. Anyway there was something that still felt slightly out to Saul.

“Wait a second, I understand you told Tiago. But why does Antoine know? He arrived to the team like yesterday!” Saul blurted out. “No offense, man.” He said to Antoine who laughed at his lack of tact. 

“Antoine understands pretty well my situation.” Koke smiled and Saul connected a few more dots. Koke could swear that he had seen smoke leaving Saul’s head after so much activity, he was pretty sure that didn’t happen too often.

“So, you’re gay as well?” 

Antoine nodded. “Since I can remember, yeah.” He confessed in a natural tone.

“Cool!” Saul exclaimed. “So tell me Kokito, who’s that lucky man who has turned your world upside down?” Asked Saul, with a few more dots remaining to be connected. “Do I know him?”

“Indeed you do.” Koke said laughing.

“Wait!” Saul fell silent and pulled out a thinking face. He was probably putting more effort in his face than in the actual thinking. “It’s not that I know too many gay people that know you as well…” and as he was pronouncing the last syllable he looked at Antoine, then at Koke, then again at Antoine who was giggling at that point. “Oh my God!” He exclaimed.

Koke and Antoine burst out laughing at Saul’s funny surprised face.

“I didn’t see that one coming like at all! Oh my gosh, you two are very good at keeping secrets!” He had his hands over his mouth and his eyes opened wide. In his face there was an obvious surprised expression but also a glint of joy.

“So… you don’t find it weird?” Koke asked in a doubtful tone.

“Why should it be weird? Undoubtedly it’s a lot of new information for me. And it’s going to be a bit difficult for me to know about this and keep it secret from the rest of the team. But as long as you two are happy…” He let out offering his fist to his friends so they could bump it. 

Koke smiled and declined, standing up instead, offering a hug that Saul couldn’t reject. Then Saul proceeded to hug Antoine as well.

“Good luck with this silly head.” Saul whispered into Antoine’s ear, and judging by Koke’s shove on his shoulder, he did it not as quietly as he thought.

“So, who else knows so far?” Saul asked curious.

“In the team just you and Tiago. My Mum and my sister know as well, and that’s pretty much it… Well, Simeone suspects it.” Antoine replied.

“Oh wow, telling Simeone must be soooo awkward.” Saul noted and Koke glared at him. 

“We’ve half-talked about it and he seems ok with it, but he’s not letting us to share rooms anymore.” Koke explained.

“I wonder why!” Saul smiled cheekily at them. “Well, congratulations on your relationship. I promise I won’t tell anybody. Maybe my dogs, but they’re good at keeping secrets.”

Koke rolled his eyes and Antoine laughed out loud. That was so Saul.

 

Saul was gone and Koke let out a huge sigh of relief, he even dried out some sweat drops on his forehead.

“So, how it feels telling people you care about?” Antoine asked him, placing his hands on his shoulders. 

“Stressful as fuck.” Koke replied, resting his hands on Antoine’s waist. “But now I feel really good… and exhausted.”

“I hope everybody we tell, reacts the same way he did.” Antoine breathed deeply, closing up the gap between them.

“I don’t think I can do this too often. It’s mentally draining. Do you think I’ll get used to it and it will become easier and easier?” Koke asked, rubbing Antoine’s sides slowly.

Antoine shrugged his shoulders. “Only time will tell.”

“You know, it feels that every step I take makes me feel lighter. I have less pressure on my shoulders, more freedom… but then I think about telling my family and my knees start trembling and I almost want to cry. I don’t think they would understand it.” Koke confessed almost choking.

“Are they a bit closed-minded?” Antoine asked, obtaining a nod from Koke. “Well, don’t worry about that. Whenever you feel ready to tell them, just do it, and whatever happens, at least you’ll be honest with them.”

“Of course I worry, Grizi. My family is super important to me and I need them to understand that you make me happy.” Koke admitted with a trace of sadness in his voice.

Antoine smiled and kissed him on the lips. “I love when you say cute things about me.”

“I know you know I hate being cheesy but that I do it for you.” Koke grinned sharing another kiss with Antoine. 

“Come on, you adore being cheesy!” Antoine kissed Koke’s chin, he didn’t know why he loved that spot so much. Koke’s stubble was tingling his lips and that made him feel funny.

“I just pretend I adore it, because you love it.”

“I really appreciate it. I must confess that when you’re so honest with the things you feel for me, I feel like fainting. In a good way, of course!” Antoine obtained a soft laugh from Koke. “And it’s such a huge turn-on for me, just letting you know.” Antoine whispered biting on Koke’s lower lip delicately.

“I see.” Koke said rolling his eyes. “So, you’re in the mood?” 

“I’m often in the mood when I’m around you.” Antoine nuzzled Koke’s jaw teasingly.

“Shame I’m feeling so tired that my body can’t react. Because I’d love to have fun with you.”

Antoine laughed. “Don’t worry for me, my toys will help me with that. My imagination will take care of the rest.” He said combing his hair back, showing a smug expression on his face.

“I hope you think of me.” Koke muttered, placing his hand on Antoine’s ass and pressing him against his body. Gifting him a warm kiss.

“As if I could think about anything else.” Antoine confessed breathless.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry because I can't post long chapters lately, but in a few days I will finally have enough free time to write better and more detailed chapters. Thanks for the patience!


	29. Chapter 29

The end of the year was near and that meant the Christmas holidays were around the corner. It also meant that they would spent a few days apart and Antoine wasn’t enjoying the idea, they hadn’t spent a day apart since they started dating and he was completely sure that he would miss Koke way too much. 

He didn’t like either that Koke was not going play the last match of the year as he had seen his fifth yellow card in the match they had just played, which they had also lost. They felt they had missed a huge opportunity losing that match at home against Villarreal, and Koke was kicking himself for seeing that damn yellow card.

“I’m so stupid!” Koke exclaimed when they got to Antoine’s place. “I shouldn’t have seen that yellow card, the next match is super important and I’m not going to be there!” Koke knew that the game in Bilbao against Athletic Club was one of the most difficult ones of the season, and to make things worst, Mandzukic had also seen his fifth yellow card and he would miss the game too.

“It’s ok, you had to tackle that player, everybody would have done the same.” Antoine said, lying on the sofa and inviting Koke to lay beside him.

“But Grizi…” Koke sat down on the sofa and then laid down next to Antoine. “Without Mario and without me, you’re going to have so much pressure on your shoulders, and it’s a hell of a difficult match. I don’t want people to blame you or something if we lose.”

“Don’t worry that much about me, I’ll be fine.” Antoine caressed softly the side of Koke’s face, trying to calm him down. 

“Everybody’s eyes are going to be on you, doesn’t that scare you?” Koke asked, playing with the fabric of Antoine’s shirt.

“I like the attention.” Antoine replied biting on his lower lip. Koke rolled his eyes.

“I’m serious. If the match doesn’t go well, media is going to blame you and I can’t handle that.”

“Then it’s a good thing I don’t care about them at all.” Antoine replied with a carefree expression, ghosting his fingers over Koke’s neck. 

“When I grow up, I wanna be like you.” Koke confessed brushing his nose softly against Antoine’s. 

Antoine let out a soft laugh and kissed him sweetly on the lips, lazy and slowly. His hands roamed over Koke’s back, trying to take the angst away from his body. Koke caressed the small of Antoine’s back under his shirt, tickling his sensitive skin and making him smile. 

“You care so much about everything.” Antoine whispered after breaking the kiss.

“I know, and I hate it. There’s so many things going on in my head at the moment and all of them are causing me different degrees of anxiety.”

“And I bet half of them are related to me.” Antoine brushed away Koke’s hair with his fingers, he knew Koke loved that.

Koke let out a silent laugh. “You could never cause me anxiety.” And right when Antoine’s heart was melting Koke continued his sentence. “Well… I’m actually a bit anxious to be able to satisfy you at all levels…” He said avoiding eye contact with Antoine and feeling a bit vulnerable.

“Kokito, we’ve talked about this.” Antoine said reassuringly with the sweetest voice tone. “All the things you do for me are amazing. You satisfy me when you kiss me, when you caress me, when you say something nice to me, or even just being by my side.” He planted a peck on Koke’s lips and carried on. “Our relationship is much more important than having sex, I told you that one of your kisses was better than some other things… Well, I can tell you that the things your kisses do to my body, are way more intense that a lot of sex I’ve had.” 

“Really?” Koke asked in disbelief and Antoine nodded. “Then the day we do it, you’re going to faint.” He laughed. 

“Fuck! Don’t make me imagine things!” Antoine shuffled his lower body as if he was trying to find a more comfortable position.

“Am I doing it again, right? I swear I don’t do it on purpose.” Koke apologized tugging on Antoine’s shirt.

“It’s not your fault you arouse me so much. Sometimes I think I could get a boner just by hearing you breathe.” Antoine joked and kissed Koke’s cheek. 

“Hmmm that’s good to know, that makes me feel powerful.” Koke replied searching Antoine’s hand and holding it. They intertwined their fingers. 

“Don’t pretend like you don’t feel the same.” Antoine laughed softly. “I’ve noticed how you look at me all the time. I bet you’re taking my clothes off in your mind, you dirty boy.”

“And what if I do?” Koke replied smugly, attacking Antoine in a passionate kiss. 

Antoine swirled his tongue, playing with Koke’s, biting delicately on his lower lip. Koke groaned and Antoine thought that maybe it was him the one with the power. He surrounded Koke’s hips with one of his legs and scooted closer to him. His bulge almost rubbing against Koke’s groin. Koke thrusted his hips evidently to produce that necessary friction. 

“Ha! I knew it!” Antoine proclaimed triumphant after evidencing how Koke was just as needy as him. “Who’s the powerful one now?” He sang in a childish tone.

Koke blushed. “You’re lucky I love you so much, if not, I would have already kicked your butt a few times...” He joked. 

Antoine erased the smile on his face and looked at Koke very serious, Koke looked at him with a puzzled face and repeated in his mind word by word what he had just said, as it wasn’t normal such a deadpan reaction on Antoine. It was when Koke was analyzing the words when he noticed.

“Oh my God, I said it!” He realized. “How about that!” He said proudly. pushing softly Antoine’s chest.

Antoine’s face didn’t change a bit. He looked scared and pale, the only thing standing out on his face was the blue colour of his shocked eyes.

“Grizi! What happens?” Koke asked worried, shaking his arm softly. That made Antoine finally react, burying his face on Koke’s neck, hugging him tightly. Koke just hugged him back, rubbing his body soothingly. 

Koke giggled at Antoine’s weird reaction, but he was enjoying the accelerated heartbeat pressed against his chest, Antoine’s firm grip, and the wetness on his neck… ‘Wait a second’ Koke thought, trying to push Antoine away from his body, even though he wasn’t making it easy. When he got to do it, he cupped his face with his hands and saw the tears framing his beautiful dreamy eyes. “Hey!” He whispered caringly, brushing the tears away from Antoine’s cheeks with his thumbs. 

Antoine looked at him shyly, a bit embarrassed for his emotional reaction. “I’m sorry, I was… just not expecting that… like at all.” He got to say between small sobs, showing a faint smile.

“I know, I said it without thinking. Believe me, if I had planned it, I would have chosen a beautiful place, or a better moment.” Koke said almost cursing himself for not making things special enough.

“You don’t understand… the fact that you said it without thinking makes it so natural, so spontaneous, so… real! Gosh Koke this is so real! Not even in my best dreams I could have imagined this. I don’t care about the place, the moment, or the situation. If you say those words to me, we could be in the middle of nowhere that I would find it magical.” Antoine said, his eyes shining like jewels.

“And you said you didn’t care about me not being able to say it out loud… look at you!” Koke pointed out warmly, squeezing Antoine’s cheeks.

“Maybe words affect me much more than I thought.” He recognized humbly. 

“Grizi.” Koke lowered his tone, almost mumbling. “I know you always try to take pressure off my shoulders to make me feel adapted to all the new things, like when you said that you didn’t care if I couldn’t say ‘I love you’ out loud, or like when you say that sex isn’t important. I appreciate all your efforts, but I know you do it to make me feel better about myself, and that’s why you deserve all of that and more. I’m happy that, maybe too slowly but, I can start giving you all those things you deserve.”

Koke’s honest words made Antoine’s heart swell. It’s not that he lied every time he said those things, but truth was that those weren’t the most important things in the world for him. Of course he wanted them, but he knew that with time and patience, they would arrive. The important thing by now, was to keep Koke as happy as possible by his side, enjoying his new life.

“You’re too perfect.” Antoine smiled overwhelmed by Koke’s sympathy. 

Antoine’s words were followed by a warm and heartfelt kiss, which left them breathless for a moment. They looked at each other panting with some delighted smiles painted on their faces.

“I am not.” Koke laughed. “I’m actually a bit of a disaster, but I know you like it.” He said brushing off Antoine’s hair from his forehead.

“So… what were we doing?” Antoine flashed a cheeky gesture, tracing circles on Koke’s chest with his index finger. Koke surrounded his waist and pressed him closer, losing himself on Antoine’s neck. “Oh yeah, I remember.”

Koke left a few wet kisses on Antoine’s neck and faced him again. “To be honest with you, I’m not feeling in the mood.” He said as Antoine was rubbing his growing erection against his body.

“Are you sure?” Antoine asked stopping the motion, he couldn’t help feeling a bit frustrated as his instincts had completely taken control.

Koke nodded and felt a bit bad for Antoine in that situation. He was feeling Antoine’s hardening cock against him but it was like his body wasn’t reacting to that. He was pretty sure it was the stress of the match and the tiredness, all getting to him. He didn’t know how Antoine had always enough energy for everything. 

“Okay.” Antoine muttered, suppressing his complaining tone as much as he could. He separated his body from Koke’s in the tiny space he had between Koke’s body and the backboard of the sofa, pressing his back firmly against the backboard.

The sudden coldness of the moment made Koke’s heart ache, Antoine’s heat was now far, too far, even if he actually was only a few inches away from him. He hated how Antoine’s face had changed, he looked like he was feeling… rejected?

“Hey!” Koke whispered placing his fingers delicately under Antoine’s chin, making his lowered head raise, encountering his piercing sad blue eyes. “The fact that I’m not in the mood, doesn’t mean that you have to suppress your desire. I would gladly watch you getting off.”

“This is less interesting if it’s me the only one feeling pleasure.” Antoine admitted reluctantly.

“And who says I’m not going to feel pleasure? You don’t even know how much I enjoy that little face of yours when you’re ‘close’. Your eyebrows arch in a very cute way, your lips go dry and you instinctively wet them with your tongue, and that always looks so effortlessly sexy. I also like when I touch your skin and there are goosebumps everywhere. And the blue of your eyes becomes darker, making your gaze more intense, and that sends shivers down my spine.” Koke explained ghosting his fingers all over Antoine’s jaw, tingling his delicate skin.

Antoine swallowed the lump on the back of his throat. He would have never told that Koke paid so much attention to his face when things were heated up. He was pretty sure that he didn’t remember Koke’s ‘being close’ face with that much detail. 

He smiled warmly and directed one of his hands to his crotch, palming his erection. Looking intensely into Koke’s eyes, who was looking back at him with a pleased smile. Koke nodded in approval and introduced one of his hands under Antoine’s shirt, caressing his torso slowly, making Antoine arch his back. 

“So my face doesn’t look silly?” Antoine asked biting his lower lip. Keeping a steady rhythm in his rubbing motions.

“Maybe a little bit, but it’s a good silly.” Koke rubbed his nose against Antoine’s playfully, and kept on caressing his chest. Feeling how Antoine’s pulse was accelerating by the moment. “I also like when you’re try to hold back your moans, because you make a noise that sounds like a super deep breath and it’s really hot.” Koke whispered into Antoine’s lips.

Antoine didn’t say anything back, but his hand pressed against his groin faster and firmer. He exhaled a moan right into Koke’s mouth, and Koke received it with a bruising kiss. Antoine started panting a bit more evidently and his hand disappeared under his pants, his whole body trembling when it surrounded his erection. 

He had enough of a mind to slow down and enjoy Koke’s face, that beaming face right in front of him that was enjoying every moan and every little twitch of Antoine’s body. And he was doing quite well until Koke’s nails scraped one of his sensitive nipples. He let out a satisfied groan, even closing his eyes in the process. Koke sniggered and moved his hand to Antoine’s back, tingling his skin there.

“Would it be asking too much if I asked you to place your hand a bit lower?” Antoine asked in a pretended innocent tone, his hand rubbing slowly his own cock. Koke laughed and rolled his eyes, but obliged, tracing a line with his index finger down Antoine’s spine until his lower back.

“Like this low?” Koke asked teasingly, knowing the answer beforehand. 

Antoine negated with his head before reaching Koke for another kiss, using his free hand to tug on Koke’s shirt a few times. Koke probably received the message because he insinuated his fingertips under Antoine’s waistband, gaining a pleased growl from Antoine. Koke just kept the hand there, not going lower despite Antoine’s repeated tugs on his shirt. Losing his patience Antoine broke the kiss annoyed.

“Come on!”

“Come on what?” Koke replied with an obnoxious smile painted on his face.

“Koke, this is very easy. If you want to see this pretty face doing all those things you love so much, you better help me a bit, or I will finish myself off in the bathroom and you’ll miss the show.”

“It’s very funny to hear you saying that while you are touching yourself. It kinda loses the seriousness.” Koke laughed. 

Antoine furrowed his brows and his hand left his pants in a sudden motion. He pushed Koke’s hand off his underwear and sat up on the sofa, ready to leave. Right when he was trying to stand up, Koke pulled him firmly from his arm, making his body hit the sofa again, and right when he was bouncing back, Koke straddled his body and sat on his lower abs. Before he could even register it, Koke had grabbed his hands and had pinned them by both sides of his head. Everything had happened in a matter of seconds and Antoine didn’t know how to react, but he was now trapped under Koke’s weight, and completely under his control.

“I love to nag you, and I love when you fall for it, but sorry…” Koke said lowering his head and kissing Antoine’s cheek. “You’re not going anywhere.”

Antoine felt a mix of excitement and frustration. Koke had told him earlier he wasn’t in the mood, but he wasn’t making things easy for him either. He tried to wrestle his way out of Koke’s prison, but he didn’t succeed. The fact that whenever he shook his body, his boner rubbed against Koke’s ass didn’t help either.

“Why do you enjoy torturing me? Just let me be.” Antoine begged with the silent desire of Koke not letting him be. He, in fact, wanted to be bothered by him, to play his game until he lost his mind. 

“You want things easy, but when things are easy they’re less fun.” Koke admitted biting delicately on Antoine’s earlobe. 

A shiver travelled down Antoine’s spine and he swallowed hard. He bucked his hips searching a bit of contact with Koke now that his hands were completely restricted. Koke felt the move and smiled, changing his position a bit, and sitting directly on top of Antoine’s erection. Antoine groaned at the sudden pressure, the painful boner was now as restricted as his hands, and any movement was nearly impossible. The only thing he could move was his neck, so he raised his head from the sofa, searching for Koke’s mouth. 

As he was getting closer and closer, Koke just moved a few inches away from him, depriving him from the warmth of his mouth. Antoine let his head sink in the sofa, exhaling deeply. The frustration was turning into anger, and his face reflected that so clearly, that Koke couldn’t suppress a laugh.

“I don’t see how this is funny.” Antoine said pouting with the most serious expression he could pull out. “Please stop it.”

“Are you sure?” Koke asked flashing a smug smile. “Because you’re harder now, you know?”

Antoine cursed himself for having such a sensitive body. He couldn’t lie to Koke if his body was screaming the truth. Even though if it was a bit exhausting, the little game they had going on was driving him crazy in more ways than one. 

“Ok, I surrender. Do with me whatever you want.” Antoine said defeated. “To keep on fighting is pointless.”

Koke smiled once again and sat upright, grabbing Antoine’s arms by his wrists and pulling him up in a swift movement until he was sitting too. He then placed Antoine’s hands around his waist, hugging his body, and he placed his own hands on Antoine’s neck, intertwining his fingers in his nape. The tight embrace made Antoine sigh, he loved Koke way so much that he was allowing to play around with him, when he used to be a bit bossy in his relationships. The change felt good, Antoine would admit, to be under someone else’s control was somehow exciting.

The small gap between their faces was enough to make them see each other with clarity. To enjoy each other’s features. Koke thought that Antoine was the most beautiful human being he had ever seen, with his blue sincere eyes, and his blushed cheeks. His half-open mouth was showing his pearly teeth, and his tongue peeked out wetting his lips. Koke took it as an invitation to explore it. And crashed his lips against Antoine’s, almost desperately.

While they were intensely kissing, Koke was circling his hips shyly, making Antoine to dig his fingernails in the small of his back. Antoine replied by twirling his tongue, causing chaos into Koke’s mouth. They broke the kiss a few seconds later, and went back to stare at each other, panting. Appreciating the intensity of the moment.

“I love you.” Koke blurted out, making Antoine’s heart to skip a beat or two. 

“I love you too.” Antoine replied shameless, going fiercely for another kiss. 

His body had started shaking after Koke’s words, and it could be tricking him, or maybe it was his mind messing, but he was pretty sure that after those three magical words, he found his very needed release.


	30. Chapter 30

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First of all, I forgot to do this in the last update.
> 
> I want to thank the person who reached me on tumblr and sent me this piece of fanart their friend made: http://i66.tinypic.com/103x4io.png  
> This person told me that the drawing was inspired by my fic, and I couldn't love it more.
> 
> Thanks a lot to both of you because this made me incredibly happy!
> 
>  
> 
> And now, after this lovely surprise, and a week full of Antoine-Koke interactions, I've decided to update one day earlier. Enjoy it!

“I can’t believe you’re not coming with us!” Antoine exclaimed already dressed in Atleti’s official suit. He was struggling with the tie knot, looking at himself in the big mirror on Koke’s room.

“And I can’t believe you lost your tie, what are we going to do when both of us travel with the team?” Koke replied lying on his bed, looking at Antoine fidgeting with his neck collar.

“I have time to worry about that. A year exactly.”

“Grizi, the fact that our next away match is next year, doesn’t make it a year away.” Koke rolled his eyes, sitting on the edge of the bed.

“Whatever. How does it look?” Antoine replied turning around facing Koke.

“A disaster, as usual. Come here.” Koke replied standing up, fixing Antoine’s tie. “Are you nervous?” He asked with his eyes glued to the knot.

“I’m anxious that I’m going to spend a day without you. You know how many old-man stories Gabi can tell me in that time? That’s torture!”

Koke muffled a laugh, re-adjusting Antoine’s collar. When he was done he rested his hands on Antoine’s shoulders. Antoine reached his waist and pressed him closer together.

“Be nice with Gabi, he just wants to help.” Koke’s hazel eyes were admiring Antoine’s face one last time before he left. Saul had promised to pick Antoine up at his place, and he was already running late. “And stop being over dramatic, you’ll be here tomorrow night!”

“I know, I’m only kidding. The things he tells me are very interesting… when I’m listening.” He arched his eyebrows in a funny expression, gaining a nasty glance from Koke. “I’m sorry, he just talks too much.” Antoine laughed and kissed Koke on the lips, making the kiss deeper and deeper by the second. Koke pushed him away.

“Come on! You’re going to be late!” He said hating himself for making the delicious kiss to stop.

“Just another kiss more, please!” Antoine begged with what tried to be a pout. Koke tilted his head to one side and thought for about three milliseconds before smooching Antoine again. He was so weak.

They probably spent more time that they had thought in that last kiss as Antoine’s phone started ringing. He groaned in complaint and answered, it was Saul hurrying him up.

“Come to pick me at Koke’s place, I’m almost ready!” He said, and Koke didn’t hear Saul’s answer, but Antoine denoted a cheeky expression, almost blushing, and Koke figured it out. Antoine threw the phone on the mattress carelessly and kissed Koke again. “I have about two minutes more.”

Those two minutes seemed like five seconds right when Saul beeped his horn from outside. Koke hurriedly fixed Antoine’s clothes before patting his back, he wished him good luck and kissed him a last time. Antoine was ready to go.

 

When they arrived at Bilbao it was already night time and after a quick dinner they were ready for bed, but there was something that felt still slightly off for Antoine, and it wasn’t Gabi’s exaggerated stories. He excused himself to Gabi for interrupting him, and left the room, walked through a long corridor and got into the elevator. When he reached the room he was looking for, he knocked on the door three times, not very firmly just in case the person inside was already asleep.

“Who’s there?”

“It’s Antoine.” And those were the magic words to get the door open.

“I wasn’t expecting you, is there anything wrong?” Simeone asked worried.

“No, no, everything is ok, I just needed to talk to you.”

“Fine. Come on in.”

Simeone opened his door and let Antoine pass. There was a running laptop on the king-sized bed and everything seemed perfectly in place.

“Please take a seat.” Simeone offered politely, and Antoine, who didn’t have too many options, sat on the edge of his bed. Simeone mimicked him, and sat in the same position, facing him. “So, what’s up.”

“Mister, I have a relationship going on with Koke.” Antoine blurted out, making Simeone smile.

“Straight to the point, good, we should go to bed soon.” He shook his head. “I kind of had imagined it.”

Antoine raised an eyebrow. He knew that he and Koke weren’t obvious at all, and Saul’s reaction confirmed it to him. Why was Simeone so sure?

“Come on! Do you expect me to not notice after the convo I had with Koke? That boy is transparent.” Simeone shrugged his shoulders and Antoine smiled, it was true, Koke was an open book.

“So, aren’t you mad at us?” Antoine asked doubtful.

Simeone took a moment to think his answer and turned serious. “Griezmann, I can’t be mad at people for trying to find happiness. But I will be mad at you if you let your relationship affect your professionalism.” Antoine nodded, and Simeone carried on. “Because I guess you’re happy?”

“More than ever in my life before.” Antoine replied bluntly, earning a warm smile from his coach. “And I’m pretty sure Koke is very happy too, but he’s quite stressed, everything is new to him.”

“I understand, I trust you to help him with that. I don’t need my star midfielder to be distracted during matches.”

“I will, Mister.” The security in Antoine’s words made Simeone feel relieved.

“Good. Is there something else you wanna talk about?”

“That was pretty much it. Koke wanted you to know about it, and I’ve saved him the stressing moment. I’m way more used to this than him, so as I said, I’m trying to make things easier for him. He will be happy to know that you’re ok with this.” Antoine explained.

“Just out of curiousity, do you have plans to tell the team?”

“Not yet. I mean, I wouldn’t have a problem with people knowing, but if Koke keeps on telling people, he’s going to faint. So we will be careful. Only Tiago and Saul know so far.”

“Fine. Your secret is safe with me. Now go back to your room, I need you to sleep well.” Simeone said, discreetly inviting Antoine to leave.

“Thank you Mister. Have a nice night!”

Antoine left Simeone’s room and came back to his, to find Gabi already sleeping. He checked his clock. Midnight. He rolled his eyes, old people liked to go bed early, didn’t they? He thought it’d be a great moment to talk to Koke so he grabbed his phone and texted him.

_"Hey, I have great news for you. I’ve talked to Simeone and he knows everything now. And he’s ok with it."_

_"That’s amazing! Thanks a lot for doing it for me! It means a lot."_

_"I want to facetime with you, I need to see that beautiful happy face, but I have Gabi snoring in the bed next to me."_

_"Put your headphones on!"_

Antoine agreed and searched for his earphones silently, once he had put them on, he texted Koke back.

_"Done."_

A few seconds later he was receiving a facetime call from Koke. Antoine wouldn’t be able to talk, but hearing Koke’s voice was what he needed.

“Hey! What’s up!” Koke said cheerfully. All Antoine could see was his lovely face and a bit of his naked chest. “I know you can’t talk, don’t worry.” Antoine smiled and Koke carried on. “You look so beautiful even in this pixelated mess.” And Koke flashed his dumbest ‘puppy in love’ face, Antoine muffled a laugh almost blushing. “You know what? I was right thinking about you.”

Antoine nodded and silently vocalized a ‘Me too’

“What I mean is, that I _really_ was thinking about you.” Koke moved the phone away from his face, until the camera was showing a bigger shot of him. Antoine could see his naked chest, and as Koke kept on moving the camera, he got to see, what seemed a bulge in Koke’s underwear. He was palming himself with the free hand.

‘Of course you’re in the mood when I’m not there’ Antoine thought, rolling his eyes. When Koke’s face appeared again on screen, he saw Antoine biting his lower lip, and pretending to be drying sweat from his forehead. Koke smiled.

“I know I have terrible timing. I bet you’re thinking that I do it on purpose, but I swear I don’t.” Koke kept on talking but his voice sounded breathy and sometimes interrupted. Antoine couldn’t believe his eyes. “I just miss you so much and I can’t wait for you to come back tomorrow.” He let out a moan and closed his eyes briefly.

Antoine was losing his mind. He was getting a boner in the worst possible moment, and Koke had terrible camera handling skills, he wanted to see the action and his face at the same time, but that wasn’t possible, and Koke was lost in the pleasure so he wouldn’t show any of those things with clarity. He glanced over to Gabi, who was sleeping peacefully with his back facing him, he felt safe enough to introduce a hand into his pants and touch himself really slowly to not produce any noises that could wake Gabi up.

“Are you touching yourself too?” Koke asked panting, increasing the pace of the strokes. Antoine nodded and Koke smiled satisfied. “Be careful, and don’t think about going to the bathroom, I bet you would wake Gabi up in the process.” Antoine nodded again and closed his eyes slightly, opening his mouth and showing his two front teeth. “See? That’s the face I told you about. I love that face.” A deep moan interrupted Koke’s words, and he lowered the camera to show his hand relentlessly punishing his erection. Antoine increased the rhythm and took one earbud out to make sure that he wasn’t being too noisy, he then focused on the spectacle.

“I wish my hand was yours, you do it better.” Koke said cheekily and Antoine flashed a toothy grin. It was funny that Koke mentioned that because he had let Antoine do it only once so far, and Antoine was dying to explore more in his body. “I love when you touch me, I love when you kiss me. I love when you whisper into my ear things I can’t understand. I love everything you do.” Koke got to say through his accelerated breathing. With every Koke word Antoine felt closer and closer, he tightened the grip around his cock.

Koke let out a loud groan that seemed painful for his throat, Antoine was even afraid that Gabi would be able to hear it from his bed. The video became shaky and Antoine couldn’t really see a lot, but by the noises Koke was making, he was coming. The next decent shot he got was Koke’s belly painted with his cum, his abs still twitching. “Fuck.” Antoine muttered under his breath.

“Oh dear, I wish you were here.” Koke said, the camera now showing his blissful face. “Are you done?” Antoine negated with his head and Koke smiled, turning his voice into a whisper. “Come on Grizi, imagine the hand wrapped around your cock is mine. I’m stroking you tightly and fast, like I did in the shower. Remember the shower?” Antoine let out a shy smile while he was trying to control his breathing. How could he forget? “I remember how hard and hot your cock was, my hand was sliding so easily through it because it was so so wet.”

Antoine was starting to lose his mind. He couldn’t increase the pace more without making the bed springs crinkle, so he decided to keep the steady rhythm and let his body enjoy Koke’s cute attempt at dirty talk.

“I remember how you were moaning like crazy. Your hands grabbed me so firmly that I thought you would hurt me, but you only left some faint marks in my skin. I never tell you, but I like when you mark me as yours. I like to see them days later still looking proud on my skin, they remember me of all the good moments we have together.”

“Fuck.” Antoine whispered again, Koke didn’t get to hear him, but he could read it on his lips. He could see how Antoine was having trouble keeping his eyes open because of the intense pleasure.

“I bet you’re very wet now too, I bet you’re gonna explode soon because I know that face. I’ve seen it a few times already, and I hope to see it millions of times more. I want to see you enjoying like you’re doing right now for the rest of my life.” Antoine was indeed close, and terrified because he didn’t know how he would control himself when his orgasm hit him. “I bet that when you touch yourself, you think about the things we don’t do yet. Are you imagining that we’re making love?” Koke asked boldly to Antoine’s surprise, who could only nod. He had pictured that situation so many times in his head, in so many scenarios, that he wasn’t afraid to admit it. “Good, you know that someday we will get there, right? And we will lose our minds together, because I love you, and only you drive me crazy.” Antoine had closed his eyes tightly and at that point he was only listening to Koke’s soft voice. “Come for me, Grizi, let me see that beautiful face you have when you reach your orgasm.”

Antoine shook violently in his mattress and let out a deep breath, he came into his hand, his whole body vibrating. He glanced over Gabi who hadn’t moved an inch and he sighed relieved. He looked back at the screen and Koke was there smiling happily.

“That was glorious. Your face, your everything. Wow! Now I’m gonna miss your cuddles. I will hug my pillow, it still smells like you… I hope that didn’t sound too creepy.” Koke said quickly making Antoine laugh.

It was late and Antoine had to sleep, he reached the microphone part of the earbuds and carried it to his bitten lips. “I love you.” He proclaimed in the softest whisper he could produce.

“Me too. You make me so happy.” Koke replied with his usual raspy cheerful voice. “By the way! You will get home tomorrow at stupid o’clock but I want you to sleep with me so I’ve dropped a set of my keys on your mailbox. You can keep them.”

Antoine smiled proudly at Koke’s idea. He would own a set of Koke’s keys, things seemed pretty serious as Koke was always quite cautious with his privacy. He wanted Antoine to have access to his house and to him the whole time. He trusted him that much. Antoine couldn’t do nothing but burst with joy and excitement.

He vocalized a ‘thank you’ before waving his boyfriend goodbye. He surely had ahead of him a night of sweet dreams.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next update will probably be next Thursday. I'm not in a position where I should update faster or I'll be running out of material in no time.
> 
> Hope you're enjoying the story!


	31. Chapter 31

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As usual, thanks for all your feedback, it motivates me to keep on writing :)
> 
> Time for a longer chapter, enjoy it!

The match didn’t start well. Athletic Club scored in the first half and Atleti was losing at half-time. The San Mames stadium was one of the hardest in La Liga, their crowd was enthusiastic and noisy, and they were good at putting pressure on the rival team.  
They also had in Antoine a favourite target. He had played forever for Real Sociedad, the other important Basque team and the biggest rival of Athletic Club, so they saw him as an enemy. An enemy unable to score or even help his team.

Antoine had the piercing laughs and boos of the crowd hammering his head, he reached the locker room with his head down. Cursing himself for missing so many opportunities. People would say he was being a flop at Atletico, he was even starting to think that Granero’s words were true. ‘I don’t think playing for Atletico is going to mean a quality jump for him.’ Those words appeared on his mind quite often. It was true that Granero was playing for Real Sociedad now and of course he had to say the things that his fans wanted to hear, and it was also true that he had been playing before for Real Madrid, so it was quite obvious that he didn’t like Atleti at all, but the harshness of those words were starting to cause a reaction in Antoine.

He swallowed hard, he wouldn’t give up, he had just arrived to Atleti and he had a lot of things to show. He knew he could do it, his coach trusted him, his teammates also did it, everything was in his favour to give that quality step that seemed impossible to some. He focused on the locker room mood, and even if Simeone was trying to motivate them saying that it was an open game and that if they scored early after the halftime, they would have high chances of winning the match, there was something in the players’ faces that reflected some kind of doubt.

Antoine shook his head and stood up decidedly. He clapped his hands a few times, trying to get the attention of the room, he couldn’t help feeling a bit shy when he saw that everybody was looking forward to whatever he had to say, but all those awaiting looks encouraged him to speak up.

“Guys, there’s a bunch of people waiting for us to fail. There’s a lot of eyes on us, wishing our defeat just because we…” Antoine paused to correct himself. “You upset a lot of people last season by winning La Liga. Our people expect us to win even more now, we can’t disappoint them, not now! What we’re going to do, is to go out there and play the second half of our lives, so all of our followers, and ourselves, start Christmas in the best possible way. What do you say? Do we continue upsetting haters?” He let out in his most powerful voice tone.

It wasn’t late until the rest of the team was standing up, clapping and shouting motivational words. Simeone looked at him from the other side of the locker room, nodding seriously and clenching his fist in a triumphant sign. They were ready to go.

The players stepped on that pitch with the biggest desire of turning the result around as quick as possible. And it only took Antoine one minute to score the equalizer, after a perfect play by the whole team. He celebrated his goal with rage, he knew he could do it, he just needed to believe more in himself.

A few minutes later Raul Garcia scored a penalty and everything seemed easier than ever for them. Antoine scored the third and the fourth goal, and Atleti won the match by 1-4. After his three goals he received not only his teammates congratulations, but also the match’s ball.

When they reached the locker room everything were smiles and happy faces. What a difference forty five minutes had made. Antoine received back pats and hugs from everybody, and they started signing the ball for him. Antoine loved that tradition, and it’s not like he had too many ‘hat-trick balls’ at home. A few of his teammates were around him waiting for their turn to sign the ball. When Saul appeared.

“What a monster match you had!” He said in a cheerful tone. “I can’t believe it you did it right when Koke isn’t there!”

Antoine opened his eyes wide, alarmed, was Saul going to be that careless to uncover them like that?

“Why do you say that?” Raul Garcia asked not paying much attention while signing the ball.

“Erm…” Saul hesitated, looking at Antoine’s terrified face. “You know, he’s the one supposed to give him the assists for his goals!”

Antoine suppressed a sigh of relief and smiled. “Well, we have a lot of people great at giving assists on this team!” He said trying to divert the attention from Koke. It seemed to work as Raul didn’t keep on asking further questions. And everybody kept on signing the ball wordlessly.

 

When Saul dropped him in his house it was almost 3AM. The away matches at night time were a pain in the ass, but he preferred the tiring flight after the match than spending another night far from Koke.

He opened his mailbox to find, as Koke promised, his house keys. He considered going home first to change his clothes into something more comfortable, but he declined as he was so tired that he thought he would fall asleep in the process. He walked to Koke’s house instead, in the intensely cold night.

In a matter of a few minutes he was opening his door and was entering Koke’s house very carefully trying to not make a sound that would wake Koke up. He toed off his shoes at the entrance and went directly to Koke’s bedroom, where his boyfriend was snoozing peacefully. He lit up the little lamp on the nightstand and started taking off his clothes silently. He was unbuttoning his shirt when his phone buzzed. Waking Koke up in the process.

“Grizi?” Koke hummed lazily, trying to open his eyes.

“I’m sorry, I thought it was muted!” Antoine apologized lying next to Koke. “Go back to sleep!” He said caressing Koke’s cheek, planting a sweet kiss there.

“I’m so proud of you.” Koke’s voice sounded raspier than usual, he patted the air a few times until he found Antoine’s face, his eyes still adjusting to the light of the room. His thumb rubbed his jaw line.

“I know, but let’s talk about it in the morning! I really need to sleep.” Antoine grabbed Koke’s hand and kissed it, dropping it in the mattress, gaining a shy complain from Koke. He stood up to finish taking off his clothes and when he was in his underwear, he switched the light off and finally joined Koke under the heat of the blankets.

“You’re so cold! Come here!” Koke said hugging Antoine’s frame, sharing his heat with him.

Antoine closed his eyes and enjoyed Koke’s warmth, he could feel his skin burning wherever Koke touched him. He let out a purr-like sound that made Koke chuckle, and he yawned deeply.

“Remember that right now our holidays are officially starting so we can sleep until late.” Koke whispered into Antoine’s ear.

“Good. My flight is late in the afternoon, so we can spend a bit of time together before I leave.” Antoine pointed out.

Koke let out a disappointed grunt, he had forgotten that Christmas holidays meant a few hundred kilometers of distance between them. Antoine laughed.

“I know. But think about how good is going to feel to be together again after being a week apart?”

A little snigger let out Koke’s lips, and it vibrated through Antoine’s body. He tightened the hug, trying to convince Antoine to not leave, even though he knew it was an impossible mission. For once, Koke was thankful of having a match just at the beginning of January, because it meant shorter holidays, and he would get to spend New Year's’ Eve with Antoine.

“Come on, let’s try to sleep a bit, I have plans for the morning.” Antoine promised.

“I can’t wait. Good night!” Koke kissed his lips sweetly after breaking the hug.

“Good night!” Antoine replied snuggling by his side.

 

When Antoine woke up it was almost noon, he was alone on Koke’s bed. It was normal that his sleepy prince was already awake, as he had gone to bed a few hours before him. He woke up, grabbed some clothes from Koke’s closet, and walked towards the living room which was also empty, only his backpack, his tie and his jacket, which he left on a chair the night before, looked out of order. The unmistakable smell of coffee lured him to the kitchen, were Koke was feeding Romeo.

“Morning!” Antoine greeted in a hoarse voice, Koke turned around with a smile, patted Romeo’s head and walked to Antoine. Antoine could have sworn that the cat was looking at him with jealous eyes.

“Morning, sunshine!” Koke received him with a tight hug. “How did you sleep?”

“Heavenly, as usual when I sleep with you.” Antoine replied introducing his cold hands under Koke’s shirt. He caused a shiver in Koke’s body.

“Oh, I see you have one of those cheesy mornings.” Koke noted in a sweet voice, caressing Antoine’s back. He could hear Antoine letting out a mischievous laugh.

“Come here!” Antoine asked him, breaking the hug and grabbing him by the hand. When they reached the living room, Antoine opened his backpack and showed Koke his most recent treasure, the ball with the signatures of all their teammates. He grabbed a Sharpie and offered it to Koke. “It looks so wrong if your signature isn’t in there.”

“I knew you would do it! I’m so delighted for you!” Koke exclaimed signing the ball. “Congrats!”

“I’m so happy too, I only wished you were there.” Antoine confessed. “Celebrating those goals without you felt weird.”

Koke left the ball in the ground and hugged Antoine warmly. “Well, I almost felt like I was there. I’m actually more nervous when I watch from home, it’s incredible. But I’m so proud of you!”

“By the way…” Antoine said separating his body a bit from Koke’s. “I don’t forget my promise.”

“Remind it to me, please.” Koke said smugly, enjoying his victory. Antoine rolled his eyes.

“You said I would score three goals in a match this season, and if I did, I had to invite you to a dinner. But...” He stopped mid-sentence raising an eyebrow.

“But…” Koke flashed a cheeky smile, he knew Antoine had something planned for him, he could feel it.

“But I’m leaving this afternoon, and I’m not going to wait a whole week to fulfill my promise, I’m not that patient.” He admitted playfully drawing circles with his index finger on Koke’s chest.

“So…”

“So I have a better idea.” And an almost evil smile appeared on his face. Koke swallowed hard and the motion of his Adam’s apple made Antoine smile. “Don’t be scared, you’re going to love it.” He warned, directing Koke to the sofa.

When Koke had sit down, Antoine straddled his hips. He loved that position. Then he started nibbling on Koke’s pulse point, ever so slightly.

“You know what? I’ve not stopped thinking about our videocall the other night.” He confessed, circling his hips shyly. “I can’t get it out of my head.”

“I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.” Koke replied, placing his hands on Antoine’s hips, rubbing his hipbones with his thumbs.

“Are you joking me?” Antoine faced Koke. “I’m almost getting hard by just thinking about your face, your body, the sounds you let out… And the fact that I had to go slowly because I couldn’t be noisy, made everything extra torturing yet hot.”

“It wasn’t my intention to torture you.” Koke answered, caressing the beginning of Antoine’s ass. “I prefer when you do that kind of stuff in the same room than me, and not hundreds of kilometers away.”

Antoine smiled proudly and shared a brief kiss with Koke, then he took off Koke’s shirt and placed his cold hands on his warm chest, tracing with his index finger the outline of his muscles. Koke adored Antoine’s focused face, he looked so innocent and wholesome. It was right when he was admiring Antoine’s angelic side, that his fingers reached one of his nipples. Koke flinched at the coldness, a coldness that would be soon replaced by Antoine’s hot mouth. He sucked carefully, playing with Koke’s nipple.

Koke laughed. “You’re so crazy.” The heat of Antoine’s mouth felt pleasant and his tongue was tickling him, he was enjoying it more than he would admit.

“Yeah, crazy for you.” Antoine replied with an intense stare, circling his hips a bit more evidently. His hands travelled through Koke’s chest until his shoulders, where his now warm palms rested.

Koke replied by hugging Antoine’s waist, and showing a beaming smile. Antoine kissed him passionately, not giving him a break to breathe. Antoine’s ardent movements had the only goal of helping Koke to get as hard as possible. And judging by his increasing moans, it was working.

“I like your concept of ‘fulfilling a promise’.” Koke said laughing in the only break Antoine had given him, as he was struggling taking off Koke’s shorts. Koke raised his hips wordlessly and Antoine took them off with a swift movement.

“I’m not gonna lie Kokito.” Antoine announced kissing him and placing a hand very delicately over his underwear. “The real reward is about to come.”

Koke felt shivers down his spine and he let Antoine do whatever he wanted. He was one hundred percent sure that whatever Antoine had planned for him, it would be a good thing.

He started planting kisses all over his torso, down his hips and his inner thighs. He caressed the skin there with his stubble and he directed his attention to Koke’s bulge. He gave it open-mouthed kisses through the underwear fabric, noticing how it was turning damp. He breathed hot air over it, while he was starting to palm him. He looked at Koke’s face, who was looking at him in awe, panting deeply. Antoine flashed a smile and Koke replied with another one. He then continued the stimulation.

When Antoine felt that Koke’s cock was semi-hard, he took off his underwear and set it free. Koke felt a bit vulnerable whenever he was exposed like that, Antoine knew it and he kissed him on the lips reassuringly. “I hope you enjoy this.” And with that, Antoine stood up and reached his backpack, searching something inside of it. Meanwhile, Koke was trying to control his breathing, as he observed Antoine turning around with something in his hand. As soon as he recognized the object, he tensed up.

“Grizi… I don’t know if I…” Koke stuttered seeing the condom on Antoine’s hand. His pulse accelerating.

“Trust me.” Antoine begged with a warm smile. He kneeled in front of him, giving away what he was going to do.

A rush of excitement travelled through Koke’s body. And he felt his cock hardening at the sole thought of what was about to come. He was also a bit nervous, he didn’t know how it would feel, and he was almost sure that he wouldn’t last too long, but he knew that Antoine wouldn’t care about all of that so he relaxed a bit.

Antoine placed carefully the red condom on Koke’s cock and grabbed Koke’s shaft, stroking it slowly, helping it to get even harder. He rubbed one of his thighs with the other hand and looked at his face, who was showing a mixture of fear and will. He kissed the inner part of his thighs, building up the anticipation on his boyfriend. Then Antoine reached with the tip of his tongue the base of Koke’s cock and licked slowly a line up his boner, reaching the head and planting a kiss on it.

“Strawberry.” He hummed with a pleased smile. He repeated the same movement a few times more, tasting the strawberry-flavoured latex. He had been thinking for a long time how would it be to suck Koke off. He thought the condom was a great idea to make him last longer, as in their previous encounters, Koke’s enthusiasm had made him finish quite quickly. Everything about that moment was delicious, and Antoine wasn’t thinking about the flavour of the condom, but in how Koke’s body was reacting to his mouth.

Koke was losing his mind. Antoine had barely started and he was already feeling dizzy. He lowered one of his hands to reach the hand Antoine had right over his thigh. Antoine smiled and continued licking another line, this time faster, drawing a deep moan from Koke’s lips. He stroked his own erection while his mouth travelled down to suck on Koke’s balls. When he did it, Koke squirmed and looked at him scared.

“Are you ok?” He asked concerned.

Koke nodded, trying to pace down his breathing. “I wasn’t expecting it to feel that good.”

“Wait and see.” Antoine teased opening his mouth and sucking tenderly on the head of Koke’s cock. He kept on sucking deeper and deeper. The hold of Koke’s hand was turning tighter with each movement.

Koke couldn’t believe how heavenly Antoine’s mouth felt. Even if there was a rubber sheet separating them, it was excruciatingly slow and hot, and he felt his orgasm wasn’t too far. He was buckling his hips unconsciously, in sync with Antoine’s movements. Antoine kept a hand firmly placed on his hips, to stop him from going too fast. He withdrew his erection and cleaned up the saliva around his mouth with the back of his hand. He laughed looking at Koke. “Something tells me you want more.”

The blush on Koke’s cheeks was noticeable. “I want more, but I’m already too close.” He said feeling a bit embarrassed.

Antoine stood up and sat beside him. “That’s not a big deal.” He said with a kind smile. “But I can slow down a bit.” He kissed Koke’s cheek sweetly and caressed his chest.

Koke nodded and started tugging on Antoine’s shirt, trying to take it off. Antoine raised his arms making it easier for him. Koke left a trail of kisses from his neck to his bellybutton, and palmed him through his clothes. Antoine’s hands caressed Koke’s nape and shoulders, tickling his skin softly. He could feel how Koke was smiling as his lips were pressed against his tummy. Koke stood up and took off the rest of Antoine’s clothes, and made him lie down on his belly on the sofa.

“I guess you must be tired after yesterday’s match.” Koke said sitting beside Antoine, placing his palms on Antoine’s shoulders.

Antoine hummed, enjoying the warmth of Koke’s hands. He could feel them moving slowly all over his back, kneading his muscles very tenderly. Koke was very good at giving massages, and Antoine felt very privileged of being the number one receptor of those massages. Koke lowered his head and sometimes the hand motions were accompanied by short kisses, some other times, he stuck out his tongue and licked Antoine’s soft skin.

His hands were going lower and lower, reaching the beginning of Antoine’s ass. In that moment Koke perceived how Antoine was wiggling his hips awkwardly and smiled. His crotch was probably aching and that position wasn’t very comfortable in that case. When Antoine had stilled again, Koke continued the massage reaching his butt cheeks, digging his thumbs firmly in the soft flesh, and caressing the sensitive skin with the rest of his fingers.

A deep moan left Antoine’s throat. He loved when Koke paid that much attention to his ass, he was always very gentle and delicate when touching it. The next thing Antoine could feel made him whimper, he wasn’t expecting that from Koke. His hot mouth was sucking one of his ass cheeks and it felt out of this world. He could hear Koke’s lips suctioning his skin, and an electric impulse was shot directly to his cock. He was pretty sure that if Koke continued like that, he would come.

Koke kept on kneading his round butt and in one of his kisses, he felt a little bit more adventurous and bit the soft flesh, dragging it a bit with his teeth and withdrawing it later. Antoine’s moan had been so loud that he looked terrified at the bite mark he had left on Antoine’s ass, had he hurt him?

Antoine turned around to seek Koke’s face. “Wow, I wasn’t expecting you to be that kinky!” He said between pants, making Koke blush. “Now, spank me!” He demanded lying again on his belly.

“What? No!” Koke exclaimed. “Your ass looks so red now, I’m not doing that!”

Antoine laughed as he understood Koke’s fear. He then decided to take control again so he kneeled on the sofa and grabbed Koke by his arm, making him to lie down on his back. Koke’s erection still looked quite ready for action so he wordlessly took off the condom, and put it in his mouth, sucking on it quite intensely.

In a matter of seconds, Koke was reduced into a whimpering mess and Antoine felt so accomplished. He was playing with his mouth all over Koke’s cock, licking the head swirling his tongue, and kissing it shyly. He sucked on his balls stroking the shaft, and he even tried to deepthroat him, making Koke’s mind go crazy. The condom’s restriction was gone, and it was as intimate as it gets. Every inch of Koke’s cock had been visited by Antoine’s tongue and lips, and he wanted to scream at how much he was enjoying it.

At some point Koke started to thrust his hips erratically, one of the times making the tip of his cock hit the back of Antoine’s throat, making him gag. Antoine coughed and Koke looked at him embarrassed at his lack of control. Antoine shook his head not giving importance to it, and pressed firmly one of his palms against Koke’s hip bone, to stop him from rushing things. He then focused again on pleasuring Koke as much as he could, he was pretty sure that listening to Koke’s moans had become some kind of drug for him, hearing them was addictive and they made him felt in heaven.

Those moans were intensifying as Antoine’s expert mouth kept on exploring Koke’s crotch. He dragged his teeth very softly on Koke’s boner, making him shudder at the sudden pleasure. His hand kept on stroking the shaft at a constant pace, and his lips and tongue took care of the rest. He would let out some approving noises to show Koke how much he was enjoying the experience. He had wondered for a long time how Koke would react in such a situation and he was very glad to see that he was loving it so much. He was also very happy to taste Koke’s skin once again, especially that unexplored area.

“Grizi I’m going to…” Koke warned, interrupting Antoine’s thoughts.

Antoine increased the rhythm of the strokes, and kept his mouth open and his tongue out just above Koke’s dick, pressing the cock’s head against the tip of his tongue. Koke looked at him in awe, trying to keep his eyes open despite the intense pleasure. Then his body shook violently and his cum was shot directly into Antoine’s mouth. The spasms running through his body were making him tremble, but Antoine’s hands still were in control, stroking his shaft slowly finishing him off.

Koke thought he was losing his mind, and his view was clouded by sparkly dots. He closed his eyes tightly, and when he opened them again, he could admire very clearly how Antoine was swallowing all of his load. Licking his lips and even licking the remains on Koke’s cock slit, making him moan loudly as all his nerves were on fire. Antoine then laid beside him, kissing his temple, stroking his own dick lazily.

“Hmmm you taste so good.” Antoine admitted shamelessly, still enjoying the taste in his mouth.

“You… are unreal.” Koke said breathlessly, shifting his body to lie on his side, facing Antoine.

He reached Antoine’s cock with his hand and stimulated his erection, Antoine reacted giving him a deep kiss, his tongue searching Koke’s and playing with it. Koke reached with his other hand Antoine’s ass, and started groping it again, obtaining a deep sigh from Antoine, who was thrusting his hips, getting closer to the edge.

Antoine moaned into the kisses he was sharing with Koke, making Koke’s whole body vibrate. He accelerated his hips motions, rubbing his cock into Koke’s clenched fist. When he was almost getting there, a sonorous slap landed on his ass cheek. It didn’t hurt at all, it only made him feel hornier.

“Fuck!” He exclaimed breaking the kiss, feeling proud of Koke for trying to pleasure him. “Again please!” He asked. Koke, still unsure, spanked him a second time, this time softer. Koke tugged on Antoine’s cock harder, and groped his ass desperately, and that was the trigger for Antoine’s orgasm. His body felt on fire and he moaned loudly sucking on Koke’s lips. His cum landed on Koke’s belly, who was now lying on his back, Antoine was hugging him, tangling his legs together.

Both of them were gasping for air showing some satisfied smiles. Koke reached his abs with his hand and dipped two fingers on Antoine’s sperm. He looked at the clear liquid, testing the sticky consistency. Antoine examined his actions, smiling at his curiousity. Then Koke stuck out the tip of his tongue and reached his fingertips shyly, tasting the new flavour. Antoine was surprised, but he felt very happy that Koke wanted to taste him like that. Koke moved his tongue on his mouth, savouring the liquid and emitting his verdict.

“It doesn’t taste like anything I’ve tried before.” He announced, still licking his lips.

“Is that a good or a bad thing?” Antoine asked doubtful.

“It’s just different.” He replied shrugging his shoulders and looking into Antoine’s eyes. “But it tastes like you, so I’d say it’s a good thing.”

Koke’s cheesiness made Antoine smile once again, and he crashed his lips against Koke’s, kissing him calmly, and hugging him tightly. His still wet cum gluing their bodies together.

“Oops!” Antoine exclaimed, looking at the sticky mess.

They laughed, maybe it was a good moment to take a shower.


	32. Chapter 32

It felt good to be home, Antoine thought. When he arrived at the family house everything felt in place. His dogs welcomed him happily in the front garden. He missed them too much, but he didn’t want to bring them with him to Madrid as he didn’t have anyone who would take care of them while he was away. He also knew that his family enjoyed their company, and the environment of his French house was the most appropriate for them.

The barks from the dogs were enough of an arrival call, and it was soon when his Mother was opening the main door.

“Come here, my angel!” She said opening her arms waiting for her son to hug her. He didn’t make her wait too long. “I’ve missed you so much. Come inside, it’s so cold out there!”

This time his Mom had topped herself with the Christmas decorations. Everything looked warm and welcoming. He loved Christmas so much. He loved to be surrounded by his family once a year, to share stories with them, and to receive their encouraging words. 

And for the first time in years, he felt completely happy at this time of the year. He had always felt that kind of good envy whenever he saw one of his cousins introducing their new significant others to the family, and seeing them together and happy on Christmas Day. He wouldn’t be able to do that because Koke was with his family, but at least, he got to share his joy with his family, as he knew that his Mum had probably spread the news already.

He was greeted by his brother and his Dad, who were waiting for him. Maud would arrive later, and the next day they would have the family dinner. It was going to be a few packed days for him. 

 

It only took his family a few hours to bring up the hot new topic, Antoine was even surprised at how fast it had happened, as they were having dinner.

“Honey, can you talk to us a bit about your new boyfriend?” His Mum broke the ice. “He’s a cutie!” She whispered turning to his Dad, who was listening intently.

“Mom!” He exclaimed, blushing. “What do you want to know?”

“I don’t know… how it happened? how is he with you? That kind of stuff” 

“Well, it just happened. Like I can’t tell you the very exact moment when everything started because we were friends, and our friendship started changing into something more intense.” Antoine explained calmly, he loved that he could talk about his love life in such a natural way with his family. They had always promised to be as open as possible about their feelings, and respect everybody’s choices. Except that time Maud started dating a quite problematic boy back in high school.

“That’s so cheesy!” His brother Theo complained.

“You don’t know about life, bro.” Antoine replied condescendingly. His brother shrugged his shoulders

“Does his family know?” His Father asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Not yet, he’s afraid they’re not going to accept it.” Antoine explained with a trace of sadness in his voice.

“Wait, like you’re the first boyfriend that guy has?” His Mother asked. “Honey, be careful with his family, I don’t want them to hurt both of you.”

“From the things he has told me, they’re a nice humble family, but a bit old-fashioned. He has no idea of how they’re going to react, but he’s mentally preparing himself… and myself, for the worst.”

“Awww that’s sad. The only thing they should care about is Koke’s happiness.” Maud pointed out.

“Oh, so you’re using his name now?” Antoine raised an eyebrow. 

“Well, if he has gone from ‘crush’ to ‘boyfriend’ I must upgrade him from ‘smiley’ to ‘Koke’.” Maud’s words made them all laugh.

Antoine was so happy to be home.

 

A last-minute shopping trip on Christmas Eve didn’t seem like the best of ideas, but Koke’s Mum had forgotten an important ingredient for her main Christmas Eve dinner dish, so Koke and Borja had the mission to buy it before the shops were closed.

“Gosh, we never do things on time. This family… I swear.” Borja complained while walking to the car. Koke laughed and followed the steps of his older brother.

“Don’t be so grumpy, we will be back really quick.”

“For real? On Christmas Eve?” Borja looked at Koke in disbelief while he was starting the engine. “I would really like to know why you are always so optimistic.”

“It’s probably because I’m very happy.” Koke said with a proud smile.

“Yeah, I get it. You have your dream job and earn more money than you can imagine. I get it.” Borja replied nonchalantly, driving the car to the main road. Since his brother became a football star, he decided he’d be the one putting his feet on the ground if he ever needed it. He liked to remind him how lucky he was to be able to reach his goals, as he couldn’t do it because that damn injury cost him his football career. 

“Well, I have more reasons to be happy.” It wasn’t his intention, but it sounded way too mysterious for Borja to not make any further questions.

“And what are those reasons?” Borja asked, not taking his eyes off the road.

“Borja, this is pretty personal, and actually very complicated to me to talk about it. So please, just listen to me and don’t lose your patience if I start rambling, because as I said, this is quite a big deal for me, and I trust you enough to know about it, but please don’t tell anybody yet because I’m not ready for…”

“Kokito, you’re rambling.” His brother pointed out, holding back a laugh. 

“Fine! I’ll try to get straight to the point, I’ve done this before, I can do it.” He motivated himself out loud, making Borja side eye him for a second. “So, I’ve met someone.”

“Like… in a romantic way?” Borja asked, understanding the reason of why it was so complicated for Koke to talk about it. He was absolutely hermetic about his love life.

“Yes, in a romantic way.” Koke muttered, blushing in the process. It felt so awkward for him to say it out loud. 

“But that’s fantastic! Why are you being so private about it?” Borja asked with a smile on his face.

“Because there’s more…” In that point of the conversation they reached the mall’s parking, and Borja decided it would be a good idea to finish the conversation in the privacy of the car. Koke seemed troubled about whatever was going on.

“Ok, tell me, I’m all ears.” Borja said patiently. stopping the car and switching the radio off.

“Because that person isn’t probably like you think, it’s not what our parents would expect. I bet you are going to understand, but I don’t know about them...” Koke was fidgeting his fingers nervously, playing with his coat’s zip.

“Well, if I’m going to understand, please tell me already because I’m dying to know. You’re great at building up the excitement!” Borja said patiently, reaching one of Koke’s arms with his hand, and rubbing it tenderly.

“Borja, I’m in love with another man. And I’m telling you because I already know that it’s something important and not just a crush or something like that. Trust me, This is big for me.” Koke opened his heart to his brother, who was listening to him with a soft smile painted on his lips.

”Mate, it’s the first time in forever you talk to me about your personal life, which gives me the perception that this is indeed important for you, and that most certainly you need the support of your older brother.” 

Borja analyzed the situation which a maturity Koke wasn’t expecting. He was completely expecting the ‘OMG are you gay?’ kind of sentences, but Borja had assumed it at the speed of light and he wasn’t making cliche questions. Instead, he was trying to be helpful for his little brother.

Koke nodded at his brother’s words. “So tell me, do I have your support?” He asked worried. Borja raised an eyebrow and looked almost disgusted. Koke’s heart jumped on his ribcage.

“How is that even a question?” Borja asked offended. “I’m at that point where I already want to hug your boyfriend for making you this happy!”

“Gosh, you don’t even know how much I love you.” Koke sighed relieved. He knew his brother would never deceive him. 

“Kokito…” Borja’s voice and face turned serious. “You’re not only my brother but also my best friend, I’m very happy that you decided I was the appropriate person to tell your secret to. And I’m going to help you in whatever you need.”

After Borja’s words, all Koke could do was to hug him. He felt so lucky of having him. He whispered a ‘Thank you’ into his brother’s ear, as he was trying to calm his heart pace.

“Just out of curiosity.” Borja said breaking the hug. “Is this the first time you’re with another man?”

Of course the nosy questions would appear, Koke thought, but he wasn’t bothered by them. He knew his brother was asking because for once, he saw the doors to Koke’s private life open, and he had the right to ask. Koke just nodded at Borja’s question, and his brother raised his eyebrows.

“Oh so everything is new to you, now I get why you were so nervous.” Koke nodded again, and he carried on. “Do you think this would affect your career if people knew?” Borja asked innocently, knowing the answer beforehand.

“How many openly gay football players do you know?” He snorted ironically.

Borja had to retire at a very early age, but he had a large knowledge of how the football world worked, how was the hidden side of it, and how were things into the locker room. He hadn’t had any gay teammate that he knew of, because he knew that football was far from being an understanding world. Players always tried to behave as they were supposed to. It seemed like all the footballers had their ‘Golden Rules’ written in a book which consisted of: marrying in a dreamlike wedding, having kids at an early age, and become either a coach or a TV star once retired. 

He was really satisfied that his brother had a strong personality that was showing that he would do whatever that would make him really happy, instead of the things people would expect from him. But on the other hand, he was afraid that he would face the discrimination of a not very tolerant world.

“I guess you don’t have any plans of publicly coming out, right?” He asked again knowing the answer beforehand.

“You know? I would really like to go out there and scream that the person that makes me happy is another man, because that would be really helpful to a lot of people that may be struggling like I was. But I don’t have the courage to do it, I’m terribly afraid of the bad stuff that can hit me in the face after such a revelation. I’m scared!” Koke exclaimed defeated, letting out a deep sigh.

“I think it’s a human thing to be afraid of getting hurt, it’s a self-defense mechanism. You have the right to tell whoever you want about it, as you also have the right to keep your private life to yourself. If you ever come out publicly, do it because you really want to do it, because you feel it’s the best thing you can do. Don’t feel the pressure of being ‘that role model people need’ on your shoulders, because first you have to feel at peace with yourself.” Borja’s words seemed wise to Koke’s ears, having this little talk was helping him a lot.

“I guess you’re right. I don’t even know how I’m going to tell Mum and Dad.” Koke shrugged his shoulders.

“I understand your fears. Tell them when you feel ready, sooner or later you have to tell them, this isn’t something that you can keep secret from them forever. They love you so they will understand, but maybe it will take them longer…”

“As long as it doesn’t take them forever.” Koke let out a sad laugh. 

“Well, I can help you in whatever you need. You have all my support.” Borja squeezed gently Koke’s shoulder, making his little brother smile.

“And that’s all I need.”

 

Maud was resting on Antoine’s bed, lying by his side. They had some random movie playing on TV but they actually just were paying attention to each other. It wasn’t often that they were together, so when they were, they liked to enjoy every second. It had been approximately three months since the last time they re-united, and they have a lot of things to share with the other.

“I want to know everything about how your thing with Koke started, I’m so curious!” She blurted out, placing her hands under her chin and batting her eyelashes exaggeratedly. 

“Would you like some fucking popcorn too?” Antoine asked rolling his eyes. “Ok, I’ll tell you.” He said half a second later, showing that he loved to talk about it. “So we started spending a lot of time together, he would sleep at my place, I would visit his home… Everything as normal friends. Then there was a night when we fell asleep together after a NBA game, and he woke up in the middle of the night after a nightmare about me being hurt, and he promised me that he would never let anyone hurt me and then he kissed me!” 

Maud would have sworn that Antoine didn’t even take a breath during the narration of his story, she just nodded and let him carry on.

“Since then he felt like very confused and conflicted, and he discovered that I loved him but I asked him to not change with me, because our friendship was on top of everything else. Oh my God Maud, I was so scared of losing him!” Maud smiled and Antoine continued. “And then we had a silly fight, and Iñaki appeared and I was drunk, and oh my gosh, I’m so ashamed but it happened Maud, it totally happened.”

“Wait, like… ‘your Iñaki’?” She asked in disbelief. Antoine nodded.

“I swear it was only a crazy night, and I did it because I was angry and I physically needed it, but I felt like shit and then Koke knew about it and you should have seen his devastated face, it broke my heart! Like when he knew that I had spent the night with Iñaki, it completely destroyed him and probably that’s the moment when he realized that his feelings for me were stronger than he had even thought.”

“You could write a novel out of this shit.” She pointed out, blaming herself for not having proper popcorn to eat in that moment.

“And well, we had a talk after that and I confessed that I had not felt anything with Iñaki because he is way more important for me than Iñaki, and that I was so sorry that it happened, and he admitted that he was jealous as hell, and that he wanted to make me happy. And I only know that a few minutes later we couldn’t take our hands out of each other. Like freaking magnets, Maud, our bodies were like freaking magnets!”

“Okay, okay… I can imagine the rest, I don’t need more details.” Maud laughed, she wasn’t sure she wanted Antoine to reach the ‘too much information’ territory.

“Like, there’s nothing too intimate to share, like we’ve done our stuff, but we’ve not gone until the end yet.” Antoine confessed.

“Wow, so you’re going slow?” Maud asked surprised, talking about sex wasn’t a taboo between them, she knew how active her brother was and was quite impressed at how his brother was being patient enough.

“Pretty much, he’s loving everything so far though. So the time will come, but it’s not going to be soon.” Antoine admitted with a laugh.

“And how are you coping?”

“To be honest with you, with his love is more than enough for me. I don’t crave sex as I craved it with Iñaki. Maybe Koke completes me more than him?” Antoine questioned out loud.

“I think I just threw up in my mouth a little.” Maud joked at Antoine’s cheesiness.

“You can laugh as much as you want, but I love him more than I love chocolate.” Maud laughed at the random comparison. “By the way, I need to go to the city in the morning, I’m getting Koke’s Birthday present tomorrow. Do you want to come with me?”

“Honey, tomorrow is Christmas, everything is closed!” Maud pointed out.

“Someone is going to do me a favour, and you’re going to love it!” He said with a smile that lighted his face up.


	33. Chapter 33

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I want to thank you all for all the positive feedback I received in the previous chapter, it really helps me to keep on writing :)

As soon as Antoine’s plane touched ground, he was switching his phone on to call Koke. It had been a long week without him and the only thing he wanted was to sleep that night between his arms. He had missed his smile, his voice, and above all, his cuddles. That feeling of protection when he was cradled by his arms was one of the best things of Koke. 

He was patient enough to leave the plane and reach the V.I.P. lounge, to get the privacy he needed, there were too many ears in there. Once in the lounge, he tapped on his phone and dialed Koke’s number, while he was looking through the window at Madrid’s rainy night.

“Oh hey babe!” Koke replied cheerfully. “Are you here?”

“Hi! I’m at the airport, are you home?”

“Yes, do you want me to pick you up?”

“No, I prefer if you prepare some dinner while I get there, I could eat a man alive! I will get a taxi.”

“You trust me way too much.” Koke laughed, doubting his cooking abilities. “Ok, let’s see what I can do.”

“Don’t let me down.” Antoine added in a joking tone. “See you!”

 

During the taxi ride he noticed that Koke could discover his Birthday present,. He couldn’t wait to give it to him, it was something special for him, and he hoped, for Koke too. He would admit that it was so difficult to think about a gift for someone who can buy whatever he wants, now he understood Iñaki’s troubles whenever they celebrated something. After a deep thinking process he came up with that idea, and he felt pretty proud of himself for it. When he told Maud, she agreed that it was a wonderful present, and that Koke would love it a lot. The week until Koke’s birthday was going to be a long one.

A few minutes later he arrived at Koke’s place. He considered opening the door with his keys, but he preferred to ring the doorbell and wait for Koke outside. It took Koke two solid minutes to open the door and Antoine was thankful for the little porch that was preventing him to end up soaking wet. 

“How about time!” Antoine exclaimed, grinning at Koke’s ridiculous apron. 

“I’ve missed you too!” Koke side-eyed Antoine, opening the door for him. 

Antoine was half a step into the house when Koke was already pressing him against his body, one arm around his waist, the other one on his nape, their lips crashing in a bruising kiss. Antoine dropped his suitcase on the floor, causing a loud noise, his hands searched Koke’s nape, grabbing it firmly. Closing the door behind him with his heel.

Time seemed to stop in those kisses. They were sweet and slow, only broken by their smiles. The warmth of Koke’s body made him blush, his cheeks were burning, and there was sweat pearling his forehead. Koke saw his flushed face and interrupted their beautiful moment.

“Take all of these things off, I will finish the dinner.” Koke said tugging on Antoine’s scarf. He complained softly, but obliged. 

Antoine sat at the table and waited patiently for Koke’s dishes, unsure about his own idea. Maybe ordering some food would have been a better option. A few minutes later Koke appeared with a tray with some dishes on it.

“I’ve prepared a king-sized salad, roasted vegetables, and there was some smoked salmon on the fridge, so that’s pretty much it.” Koke explained humbly, placing the dishes on the table. Antoine licked his lips and let out an approving hum. 

“Is there something you can’t do?” Antoine asked with a proud smile on his face. 

“I can’t sing.” Koke shrugged his shoulders and sat at the table across Antoine.

“How healthy!” Antoine pointed out, looking at the food. The roasted vegetables had a questionable appearance, but he was sure they’d taste good.

“We have to train tomorrow morning, I bet Profe is looking forward to torture us.”

“I hate that!” Antoine exclaimed. “Training in New Year's Eve is just plain wrong!”

“That happens when there’s a match only a couple of days away. Thank whoever planned it!”

Antoine tried a bit of each dish and was pleased at the nice flavours, he didn’t know Koke could cook, and probably Koke didn’t know it either. 

“So tell me, how was Christmas?” 

“It’s been an experience.” Antoine replied swallowing the food. “Everybody asked me about you, everybody wanted you to be there… my family already loves you and they don’t even know you!” 

“That’s because you probably have told them a lot of nice things about me.” Koke smiled warmly.

“Guilty!” Antoine held his hand up comically. “But they also said that they see me happier than ever, and that’s your fault!” Koke flashed a pleased smile at his words. “How about your holidays?”

“You know, a lot of food, a lot of family, a lot of running to burn off all those heavy meals.”

“Seems like an eventful week.” Antoine laughed.

“There’s more… I told Borja.” Koke stopped eating and got serious. Right when Antoine was about to ask ‘about what’ he looked at Koke’s face and it hit him.

“How it went?” Antoine dropped his fork and almost choked on his food at how quickly he reacted.

“It went even a lot better than expected! He showed me his full support and was really nice about it! but…” Koke furrowed his brows and Antoine waited for him to continue. “He’s unsure about how my parents are going to react too.”

Antoine sighed deeply, he thought everything was going so well, but there was always a ‘but’. He knew how important his parents were for Koke, and he suddenly felt afraid about a bad reaction from them, he didn’t want Koke to feel rejected, and above all, he didn’t want Koke to have to make a choice between them and him, that wasn’t fair for any of them. 

“Well, let’s focus on the positive reaction of your brother. Small steps.” Antoine guessed to say. “Does he know that I am your boyfriend?” 

“Not yet, I wanted him to react about me dating another man without any interferences. He likes you a lot, so that would have been conditioning him. I will tell him soon, but that’s not my priority. And he didn’t ask either, so I will let him to digest all the information I gave him first.”

Antoine nodded and kept on chewing some lettuce. He didn’t understand why Koke didn’t tell Borja everything but he respected his choice.

“I want to tell you that I couldn’t be any prouder of you. Every step you take is a step forwards, and I really appreciate it.” He encouraged Koke in his ‘coming out’ process. He remembered when he had to go through it and it felt tricky and scary. 

“Thank you, I’m also pretty proud of myself for the things I’m doing.” Koke showed a pleased smile and got up. “Wait for me on the sofa, the dessert is on the way.”

Antoine grinned at Koke’s surprise cooking skills, he offered his help to clear the table but Koke asked him to go and rest on the sofa, as he would be tired after the flight. Antoine obliged and laid on the sofa, propping his head up with two cushions. Five minutes later Koke joined him with the dessert, Antoine smiled when he recognized the sweet food.

“Hot chocolate and cookies, where did the whole ‘eating healthy’ thing go?” He sniggered.

“Well, if you prefer fruit there must be some apples on the fridge.” Koke said raising an eyebrow, and placing the tray on the coffee table. He then sat down next to Antoine’s head and grabbed his cup of hot chocolate. 

It took one pleased hum by Koke after drinking the sweet beverage to get Antoine sit up and grab his own cup like an excited kid. He snuggled next to Koke, making him to throw an arm around his shoulders, pressing him closer. He kissed him on top of his head and rubbed his arm. 

“It’s feels good to be home.” Antoine said unconsciously, he knew that it technically was Koke’s house, but he felt more than welcome there. He looked at Koke through his long eyelashes to see his reaction, and he found Koke smiling tenderly at him.

“I’m so happy to have you back.” Koke kissed Antoine’s forehead and left his cup on the table, to surround Antoine’s body with his both arms. Antoine repositioned himself to face Koke, placing his legs on Koke’s lap and his free arm around Koke’s neck. He took a sip of chocolate and showed a toothy smile. Koke let out a laugh. “You have a chocolate moustache!” He pointed out amusedly.

“Fix it.” Antoine replied cheekily, biting his lower lip and defying Koke with his huge turquoise eyes. 

Koke accepted the challenge and darted his tongue out to lick the chocolate remains around Antoine’s lips. It took him a while as he got distracted by Antoine’s welcoming lips. When he was fully clean, he drew away. 

“I had missed your taste.” Koke admitted. “This week has felt endless.”

Antoine smiled and left his chocolate cup on the table, afraid of pouring it, he then completed the hug around Koke’s neck, placing his mouth in front of Koke’s ear.

“These days have helped me to see that I love you even more than I thought.” Antoine whispered into Koke’s ear. He moved back to see Koke’s face, which was glowing with pride and joy.

“Je t’aime.” Koke whispered back, making Antoine laugh softly. 

“How long have you been rehearsing that sentence?” He joked, making Koke furrow his brows.

“I think I should learn some French for two reasons. The first one it’s because someday I want to be able to talk to your family, and understand them.”

“Awww that’s so cute!” Antoine adored how much Koke cared about him. “And what’s the second reason?”

“When we’re kissing, or hugging, or doing you know, some other stuff, sometimes you say some random words in French to me, and they sound delicious, and they make me go crazy. So I want to know what kind of things they are, because if you need your first language to express them, it’s because they’re completely heartfelt.” Koke explained in an eloquent way, caressing Antoine’s cheek with his fingertips.

“It’s easier if you ask me.” Antoine laughed. “But I always say the same stuff, it would get boring after a while. Do you want to know the sentences I use the most?” Koke nodded and Antoine carried on. “One of the things I say is ‘I’m never letting you go’.” Antoine followed the translation with the French sentence and Koke felt chills whenever he listened to that delicious accent.

“I bet you’re not always that cheesy.” Koke teased him, raising an eyebrow.

“Well, some other times I say “Make me cum until my cock dries out.’ but it sounds way more elegant in French.” Antoine blushed and Koke started laughing out loud. “See? It’s better if you don’t understand.”

“No way, this is priceless.” Koke continued laughing until Antoine silenced him with a sweet kiss. Antoine pressed his forehead against Koke’s after breaking the kiss and exhaled deeply.

“I’m so excited we’re starting the New Year together like this. Loving each other this much, feeling a part of the other’s life. It’s incredible. Last New Year I was single, in a smaller club, even doubting my skills, and wondering if I would ever succeed in life in general. Well, now I know I have.” He breathed out after his intense words. Koke remained silent for a minute or two, enjoying Antoine’s words floating in the air. 

“This is going to be the best New Year’s Eve of my life, and that’s because of you!” Koke got to say, caressing Antoine’s sides. “By the way… Even if I have to go to bed tomorrow quite early because of the morning training on New Year’s Day, I need to go to my parents house to have dinner with them… and I want you to come with me.”

Antoine let his mouth hang open, surprised at Koke’s words. He wasn’t sure Koke was ready for that, well, he wasn’t even sure himself was ready for that. Meeting his family was something big, something that could be quite stressful for Koke and for himself, he wasn’t sure they needed that.

“Koke, are you sure? That sounds… huge.” Antoine let out with a concerning look.

“Well, I wouldn’t introduce you as my boyfriend, but it’d be nice to see if my family likes you, because when I reach the point of telling them about us, maybe they will understand it faster after knowing how wonderful you are.” Koke explained, rubbing soothingly Antoine’s arm.

“Oh.” Antoine whispered, for half a second he had imagined being Koke’s boyfriend in front of his family and it was a tad disappointing that he had to spend a night pretending Koke was just a teammate more, maybe a friend, but nothing else. “It makes sense, but I’m not sure it’s going to work exactly like that.” Antoine knew for a fact that if someone rejects you for being gay, having a nice boyfriend doesn’t help that much. Homophobes aren’t usually that subtle. 

“Well, I can only try. And what the hell, I don’t want you to spend New Year’s Eve all by yourself, it’s a time to celebrate!” It seemed like Antoine didn’t really had a choice. Koke was already sure about his decision, and to be honest, he wasn’t very happy with the idea of being alone in such a festive day. “Besides… I have a reward for you if you go through this.” Koke’s voice turned deeper and Antoine felt shivers down his spine. That was it, he had decided.

“Ok, you win. I will be the perfect friend tomorrow night so your parents start loving me already.” Antoine flashed a smug grin and gained a sweet kiss from Koke, who was smiling quite pleased.

“You are the best! Let me call my Mum!” Koke grabbed his phone and tapped on the screen. “Mum! Hi! Just a quick question, there’s one of my teammates who doesn’t have any relatives in Spain and is going to spend New Year’s Eve alone tomorrow. Can he come home and have dinner with us?” Koke nodded as his Mum replied, he cracked a smile. “Thank you! I will call him to tell him. I love you!” He hung up and looked at Antoine. “She loves the idea of having someone new to try her dishes.”

Antoine smiled back and curled on Koke’s side, hugging his chest and pressing his ear against his chest. His hands caressed Koke’s chest. Koke was playing with his hair and kissing on top of his head.

He really needed things to go well.


	34. Chapter 34

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Useful info before you read this chapter: On it I talk about a Spanish New Years Eve tradition. It consists of eating a grape with each bell strike at midnight of December 31, making it a total of 12 grapes in less than a minute. According to the tradition, that leads to a year of prosperity.
> 
> Ok, you're set. Happy reading!

The closer they were getting to Koke’s parents house, the more nervous Antoine got. He was pretty sure that he needed to be one hundred percent alert to not do anything mildly suspicious, he tried to get into the training mindset, where almost nobody knew about him and Koke, and he had to act as if Koke was just a regular friend. He had done it hundreds of times so far, it wouldn’t be hard to do it once again.

When they reached the house, Koke stopped the engine and looked at Antoine, who was wiggling his knee.

“It will be fine, just be your charming self and in a matter of minutes my whole family will want to adopt you.” Koke told him reassuringly.

“If I’m my charming self they will probably love me more than they love you, and you will hate me for that.” Antoine joked, still with his panicked expression. Koke punched his shoulder and opened the door, leaving him alone into the car. Antoine breathed deeply twice and followed Koke’s steps, his legs trembling a bit.

Koke’s Dad opened the door and received them, he hugged his son and then shook hands with Antoine. “Man, you really saved our asses in Bilbao, I can’t thank you enough for that.”

Antoine smiled shyly and mentioned how it wasn’t a big deal, that he was there to help the team. His humble answer made Koke’s Dad grin satisfied. He didn’t even have to use his charm on the man as he was a hardcore Atleti supporter, that made things way easier for Antoine.

One down.

The next one greeting them was Koke’s brother. Borja hugged Antoine and patted his back. Koke had mentioned several times how Borja was a big fan of Antoine’s style, so once again, Antoine didn’t have to do anything to be liked by one member of Koke's family. Two down. This was easier than expected.

Then they walked to the kitchen, where Koke’s Mum was finishing cooking dinner, she always asked everybody to leave her alone when she was cooking because it was something she loved so much, that she didn’t want anybody to spoil that moment for her. Anyway as soon as she saw her son opening the door, the rules were broken and she went to hug him, she didn’t have him at home too much so any moment was good enough to be together. Koke introduced Antoine to her and she kissed him on the cheeks, leaving two red lipstick marks on both Antoine’s cheeks.

“Tell me darling, is there something you don’t eat? Are you allergic to something?” She asked kindly, while slicing a lemon skillfully.

“I pretty much eat a little bit of everything, don’t worry for me, I will be fine!” Antoine replied politely. “Thanks a lot for inviting me, I’m glad to be here.”

“Nobody should be alone on Christmas time. But how come your family isn’t here?” Koke’s Mum asked, still working on the dishes.

“Well, they don’t live here. I visited them on Christmas Eve, but as we have to train these days, I had to come back earlier.”

“And where do they live?” She asked curiously.

“All of them live in France, except for my sister who is currently living in New York.” Antoine explained.

“Hold on a second, are you from France?” She asked in disbelief, it was obvious that she wasn’t that into the Football World as the rest of the family.

“Huh Mum, his name is Antoine, not Antonio... “ Koke mentioned rolling his eyes, opening the fridge door.

“Well, parents are quite edgy with names these days, I don’t know… But you speak Spanish so well! You don’t even have an accent!” She continued in a praising tone

“I’ve been living in Spain since I was thirteen, so I’ve almost grown up speaking Spanish.”

“Wow, so you’re completely bilingual. That’s amazing, good for you, sweetheart!” She smiled while her hands kept on working on the ingredients almost like a robot.

“Thank you. Can I help you with anything?” Antoine said, rolling up his sleeves. “I promise I’m not a disaster in the kitchen despite burning myself a bit with the oven when helping for the Christmas dinner.” He pointed at a bandage that was covering a good part of his forearm.

“Thank goodness you’re not that clumsy on the pitch.” Koke teased, while opening a beer bottle, gaining a nasty glance from Antoine.

“Don’t worry honey, I got everything under control and in a few minutes everything will be ready, but thank you, you’re such a charming young man.” She said flashing a warm smile. “You could take notes!” She muttered to her son, who was rolling his eyes. Antoine let out a sonorous laugh. Three down. He was on a roll.

 

They went to the living room to met some other family members who were waiting for them, there was some aunts, uncles, cousins and even a grandmother. Antoine introduced himself politely to everybody and initiated a bit of small talk to break the ice, it was a bit overwhelming for someone as shy as him, but it seemed that everybody was liking him so far so that encouraged him to keep on talking.

One of Koke’s little cousins approached him. She was a cute girl, not older than seven, with two adorable ponytails on both sides of her head. She showed a beautiful smile, evidencing the absence of a couple of teeth. Antoine crouched to be at her same height.  
“Your hair looks like a skunk!” She blurted out in a sweet voice, pointing out at Antoine’s platinum blonde dyed hair.

Antoine blushed and looked around to find a few of Koke’s relatives laughing softly at her comparison. An ashamed woman walked to them quickly.

“I’m so sorry!” She apologized, and she turned to the little girl. “Honey, be nice with the cousin’s friend!”

“But Mum, it’s something nice! I like skunks!” The little girl replied, making Antoine smile.

“It’s Ok, don’t worry!” Antoine said to the girl’s Mum. “Thank you.” He turned to the little girl. “Does that mean that you like my hair?”

“Yes! It’s not boring like everybody else’s!” The girl replied excitedly. “Can I touch it?”

Antoine didn’t like people to touch his hair, unless it was his hairdresser, his family, or Koke, but he would make an exception for the enthusiastic girl, her eyes were shining in anticipation.

“Sure!” Antoine accepted, lowering his head until the girl could reach it. She caressed it curiously, combing it with her fingers.

“Come on sweetie, let Antoine talk to other people.” The woman said softly, grabbing the girl’s hand.

“It’s so soft Mum!” The girl exclaimed, making Antoine laugh again.

“Thanks for your patience.” The woman said kindly, walking away with the girl.

That made two people more to add to the list of Koke’s relatives who already loved him. The balance was pretty good so far.

“Wow, you’re good with kids!”

Antoine turned around and there was Borja offering a beer to him, Antoine accepted it.

“It’s not like I treat with them often, but I normally get along quite well with them.”

“That’s nice man. I’m happy Koke brought you here, I was looking forward meeting you!” Borja announced. “I already liked you a lot when you played for Real Sociedad, so when I heard that you were signing for Atleti I celebrated it!”

“Wow, thank you!” He thanked Borja’s supportive words. Now he understood all the things Koke said abouthim being a fan.

They spent a while talking about music, other sports, even fashion. Koke joined them at some point and was happy to see how integrated Antoine was, he was expecting it as he had experienced himself Antoine's charm before, but that didn’t make him feel any less happy.

A few minutes later they were all sitting at the table. Koke’s Mother delivered an impressive dinner and she received plenty of compliments.

There wasn’t too much chatter during the dinner. At least Antoine tried to not talk too much, it wasn’t a familiar atmosphere for him and he wanted to be cautious. Koke was sitting beside him, and he talked to him from time to time to not make him feel alone. Antoine was fine, he was quite shy in unknown places, he was used to that.

The general conversation turned unavoidably to love when one of Koke’s uncles asked Antoine if he had a girlfriend. Koke tensed up a bit, hoping for it to end soon.

“I don’t, sir.” Antoine replied politely, not making eye-contact with anybody in particular.

“I see, living the single life. You clever boy!” The man replied laughing, trying to seem nice.

Antoine rolled his eyes a bit, of course that man hadn’t thought about the possibility of him being dating a man. Let alone that man was his nephew. Antoine was used to that kind of behaviours in which homosexuality wasn’t on people’s heads, in this case when he needed to be discreet, it was a good thing, but he usually hated it. Why wasn’t it something as natural as heterosexuality to people was something that really disgusted him.

“Don’t ask the boy personal questions, you’re bothering him.” Koke’s Mum appeared to the rescue, shutting his brother up in the process.

A shy smile appeared on Antoine’s face as he looked at the woman. He thanked her with his eyes. A similar smile was painted on Koke’s Mum lips. She had really captured Antoine’s personality in such a little period of time.

“I’m sorry son!” Koke’s uncle apologized. “Kokito never tells us his things, I gotta ask someone else!”

And Antoine could notice Koke tensing up again. He quietly caressed Koke’s leg with his own under the table, trying to calm him down. Koke glanced at Borja, with a terrified face, expecting some help from his older brother.

“Come on, leave him alone. You know he doesn’t like to talk about that stuff. It’s Christmas, let’s talk about something else.” Borja intervened.

An almost audible relieved sigh left Koke’s lips, silenced by the voice of his Dad asking someone in the table about their new job. They were safe.

Once the dinner was over, they had a little bit of time to kill before midnight. Some were entertained peeling off the grapes they had to eat, some others continued with the talk in the table, eating some Christmas sweets from a big tray. Antoine felt a bit overwhelmed and left the living room for a while and walked to the balcony, where Borja was smoking.

“Oh hey, I didn’t know you smoked.” Antoine said with a surprised tone, he wanted to be alone and wasn’t expecting to find anybody in that balcony.

“Only in signaled days, I don’t do it often.” Borja replied, breathing the smoke out. “By the way, I apologize if my uncle bothered you, he’s always like this, we already know it but you don’t so I guess you could have felt a bit uncomfortable.”

“Don’t worry, it’s ok.” Antoine replied not giving more importance to the situation. “It’s a normal topic of conversation, you know. I’m used to that.”

“He’s a good man but terribly nosy. I’m glad you didn’t feel bad about it. I wanna tell you that I’m very happy that you’re here with us tonight. It’s great that Koke asked you to have dinner with us, he must like you a lot because it’s not often he brings friends home.”

‘If only you knew’ Antoine thought. It was obvious that Borja hadn’t connected the dots yet. In his head the facts that Koke was in love with another man, and the great relationship he had with Antoine, weren’t related yet.

“Yeah, I’m happy he’s my friend. When I moved from San Sebastian I was only hoping for nice teammates and I can say that I have a few good friends in so little time.” Antoine said proudly, with a shy smile on his lips.

“That’s fantastic. I guess your personality must also help. I don’t know you a lot, but you seem a really nice guy.” Borja replied finishing his cigarette. “Let’s go back inside, midnight it’s only a few minutes away.”

Antoine nodded and smiled, he patted Borja’s back thanking him his kind words and they walked inside, joining the rest of the people. They were all chatting excitedly, waiting for midnight.

There was a bunch of Spanish traditions that Antoine loved with a passion, he had spent so many years in the country that he had accepted them as his own. But the tradition of choking on grapes to welcome the New Year was probably the most stupid one of them all. He usually spent New Year’s Eve in France, so he didn’t really had to eat the twelve grapes, until now. He knew he couldn’t escape that tradition forever.

Koke’s Dad handled him a plate with the twelve grapes, they looked huge to Antoine’s eyes. He looked back at Koke’s Dad and the man smiled cheekily, knowing that those were some pretty big grapes. He walked away leaving Antoine holding his plate with worried eyes. Now he knew he wouldn’t make it to the next year. Koke approached him and let out a soft laugh.

“Is it your first time?” He asked raising an eyebrow.

Antoine nodded and picked up one of the biggest grapes, he put it right in front of his eyes, trying to examine it up close.

“The seeds inside, they’re huge!” Antoine exclaimed.

“Stop being so dramatic, they’re normal grapes.” Koke replied still laughing.

“But what if I choke in front of your family, that would be so embarrasing.” Antoine asked worried, poking the rest of the grapes with his index finger. “I don’t get the point of this. I bet there are better ways to celebrate the change of year.”

“I do have a better plan…” Koke trailed off in a whispering tone. “But you need to eat those grapes first.”

“Are you blackmailing me?” Antoine asked making shy eye-contact with Koke.

“Don’t forget to make a wish while you’re struggling eating those.” Koke said winking and left him there, holding his plate with a blank face.

 

A few minutes later the grapes’ ritual was over, and Antoine survived. He cleaned his mouth with the back of his hand and went on shake hands with Koke’s family. Everybody was so happy to leave 2014 behind, and Antoine was hoping for his secret wish to become true. ‘To have an even better 2015 with Koke by his side” that’s all he needed.

Koke hugged him wishing him a Happy New Year and Antoine whispered the quietest of ‘I love you’s’ into his ear, Koke squeezed gently his side under his jacket, and smiled to him briefly.

As soon as they had greeted everyone they left the party explaining that they had to train early in the morning. Koke’s relatives wished them a great year and they left the welcoming family to go to Koke’s place.

Their New Year’s party had just started.


	35. Chapter 35

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A quite long chapter for an early update. It was this or splitting the chapter in half, but I'm not that evil.
> 
> Hope you like it!

“Come here!” Koke exclaimed like an excited kid, grabbing Antoine by the hand and directing him to the garden’s door. Antoine couldn’t open his mouth before Koke opened the curtains. “Ta-da!” He sang showing his creation.

What Antoine could see through the window surprised him quite a lot. Outside, halfway between the porch and the garden, Koke had arranged a kind of improvised bedroom for them. There was a mattress on the floor, a quite thick-looking duvet, and some pillows and cushions lying on top of it. 

Koke opened the door with a wide smile and invited Antoine to go outside with him. A closer look showed Antoine how there was a table with a champagne bottle and two cups, and a rose placed carefully beside them. There was also one of those outdoor heaters, which was currently switched off. Antoine was admiring everything in awe, Koke had definitely worked hard on his reward.

“I had thought that it would be a good way to start the year if we slept together under the stars. I know it’s winter, but I think we will be fine.” Koke explained humbly, walking to the heater and switching it on. “We’re going to need this later... So, do you like it?”

Antoine cracked a shy smile and extended his hand to him, when Koke was close enough to grab it, he pulled it to bring him closer, until their chests were pressed together. Koke laughed softly and threw an arm around Antoine’s waist. Antoine completed the hug placing his hands on Koke’s nape.

“We may have the worst possible cold tomorrow, but it’s going to worth it.” Antoine confessed cheekily into Koke’s lips, sealing his sentence with a warm kiss. 

“Then take all these things off.” Koke demanded unbuttoning Antoine’s coat. 

He took off his coat and his scarf, shivering at the cold as soon as he did. Koke poured two cups of champagne and offered one of them to Antoine. 

“This will warm you up.” Koke raised his cup. “For the wonderful year that just ended, and for an exciting new life with you. Happy New Year!” Koke finished his toast and they both drank a bit of the fizzy liquid. Antoine could feel it burning his throat, but at least he didn’t felt that cold anymore. 

“For the most amazing boyfriend I could ask for. You are a blessing.” They finished their cups after Antoine’s toast and a few seconds later they were tangled in a tight hug, Koke’s hands roamed over Antoine’s body and he even insinuated his fingertips under Antoine’s clothes, making him shiver. “Your hands are freezing!” Antoine exclaimed, mimicking Koke’s movements and touching Koke’s abs faintly with his cold fingers, causing a similar reaction on him.

“Then let’s heat things up!” Koke whispered seductively into Antoine’s ear, biting his earlobe.

“Hmmm I like how that sounds!” Antoine purred, offering his neck to Koke’s hungry lips. 

Koke took the invitation and started sucking tenderly on the soft skin of Antoine’s neck. With time he had mastered his technique and he just left love bites whenever he wanted to. Which wasn’t often in such a visible area. Antoine’s sighs broke the silence of the night, Koke’s tongue was tickling his skin and it felt so pleasant. Koke’s hands continued caressing his torso, rubbing circles to warm his body up. It was working as Antoine felt a bit like sweating.

Antoine pushed Koke away for a second and placed his hand on the angle of Koke’s jaw. He loved that spot so much, he found it so sexy. He then crashed his lips against Koke’s in a raw kiss, his motions turning messy and accelerated. He unbuttoned Koke’s shirt and hooked his arms around his warm body, resting them on his shoulder blades. Koke tried to do the same but Antoine’s buttons didn’t seem to collaborate with him, so he lost his patience and pulled open Antoine’s shirt, making a few buttons fly. Antoine laughed into the kiss, and pressed his chest against Koke’s searching protection from the cold. 

Before they could notice, their shirts had flown off and they weren’t feeling the cold anymore on their naked torsos. That’s when Koke took advantage of his position and pushed Antoine away, causing his heels trip on the improvised bed’s edge and making him fall into the cold mattress. As Antoine felt the freezing fabric welcoming him, he shivered again, this time more intensely. It wasn’t late until Koke was joining him, covering Antoine’s body with his own, kissing again his neck.

“I like your rewards!” Antoine let out breathy, scratching faintly Koke’s wide back. Koke sniggered and sat up, grabbing the rose from the table. He came back to kiss Antoine as he was tracing patterns with the rose on Antoine’s chest. Antoine loved the touch of the soft petals on his skin, it felt tingly and delicate, subtle but firm enough to drive him crazy. 

As Koke continued caressing Antoine with the rose, he re-positioned himself, making his bulge rub against Antoine’s. Their growing erections were pressing together, and their breathings accelerated by the moment. Whenever Koke’s lips left Antoine’s, the Frenchman grabbed a bit of fresh air and panted deeply, obtaining a pleased hum from Koke.

Antoine reached his jeans and in a swift movement unzipped them. “So much better.” He sighed, relieving the pressure on his pants. Koke smiled and took the chance to introduce his hand between Antoine’s unlocked zip and his underwear, palming his erection. “Yes!” Antoine let out in a gasp. His hands travelled to Koke’s butt, and fought to slip them inside his jeans. After a bit of struggling, and Koke’s help unbuttoning his jeans, he could do it, resting his hands on Koke’s butt cheeks, kneading the flesh there.

It seemed impossible, but they were sweating in the middle of the freezing night, their tangled bodies sharing heat, almost feeling the need to push the duvet away. 

“Are you enjoying it?” Koke asked, his hand stopping his motions.

“Don’t ever stop!” Antoine begged, lust painted on his blue eyes.

“I’ll take that as a ‘yes’” Koke smiled, introducing his hand into Antoine’s underwear, wrapping it around his erection. 

Antoine let out a ‘fuck’ two or three syllables too long, and searched Koke’s free hand to grab it. Koke dropped the rose and intertwined his fingers with Antoine’s while stroking his boner slowly, maybe too slowly for Antoine’s needs. He gritted his teeth and controlled his breathing, closing his eyes to focus on it.

“Hey, look at me!” Koke demanded in a sweet whisper, stopping the stroking motions. Antoine opened his huge eyes and looked intensely at Koke, who admired the piercing blue colour and the dilated pupils. “Much better.” He smiled satisfied and continued the stimulation. 

Koke kept on staring at Antoine’s face and Antoine felt like blushing, Koke was paying so much attention to every single gesture, every sigh, every sound. It was like he was testing which movements pleased Antoine the most, and he was getting his answer by how loudly Antoine was moaning, or by how difficult was for him to keep his eyes open. After a specific wrist twist, Antoine’s body squirmed and shook quite violently. He gasped deeply and the grab on Koke’s hand intensified. That’s when Koke knew that it was time to move to the next level before it was too late. His hands abandoned Antoine, and he kneeled on the mattress. It was right when Antoine was going to complain for the lack of contact, when both of Koke’s hands started pulling down Antoine’s jeans, peeling them off completely after getting rid of the shoes and socks. 

Antoine was lying on his back, panting and looking at Koke with expectant eyes. He only had his underwear left, covering his obvious bulge. Koke looked down at his exposed body, illuminated by the dim light from the moon, the stars, and the tiny porch light bulb. It was more than enough to highlight Antoine’s beautiful features, his fragile yet strong frame, the fierceness in his eyes. Koke bit down on his lower lip, ready for the feast. 

Even before Antoine could notice it, Koke was again all over him, kissing him hungrily all over his neck, his mouth, his chest. His hands touched Antoine everywhere, roughly, almost desperate. The subtlety was gone, and now his feelings were taking over. Antoine was impressed yet quite surprised by Koke’s behaviour, he was enjoying the change of pace and the passion he was distilling. 

“You’re driving me crazy!” Antoine confessed placing his hands on Koke’s ass, pressing their bodies together. Koke laughed softly and replied while kissing Antoine’s neck. The muffled sound was unintelligible. “What?”

“I was saying that this is just the beginning.” Koke said clearly, with a mischievous smile painted on his rosy lips.

Antoine didn’t reply with words, but he thrusted his hips instead, making his boner rub against Koke’s jeans. He showed a teasy smile, he was up to whatever game Koke had in mind. Koke smiled and separated from Antoine a few seconds, enough to liberate his body from the excessive clothes he was wearing, keeping only his underwear on. 

To Antoine surprise he didn’t go back to the kissing and groping. He simply stood kneeling on the mattress between Antoine’s legs, palming his underwear, and caressing Antoine’s thighs, his fingers tangling on the soft leg hairs. The expectation was building up on Antoine, who needed way more contact that the soft travel of Koke’s hands.

“I’m getting cold.” Antoine pouted, folding his arms across his chest.

“I can fix that!” Koke replied lowering his face to kiss the inner part of Antoine’s thighs. Right where the skin is more sensitive. As he was sharing kisses all over the place, his hands grabbed the waistband of Antoine’s underwear and pulled it down, freeing Antoine’s erection. As soon as it hit the cold air, Antoine flinched a bit, but Koke soon took care of that, wrapping his hand around Antoine’s cock. His head still buried between Antoine’s legs. 

Antoine could feel the heat increasing in his body again, the warmth going up from his lower abdomen, reaching his chest. It felt really nice, and he still thought that it was crazy that they were doing that in the garden in such a cold night, but the experience seemed one to remember. 

He was lost in his thoughts when he felt the unmistakable wetness of Koke’s mouth on the shaft of his cock. He raised his head almost alarmed, to see if it was his mind playing tricks on him, when he found a vision he thought he would never witness. Koke was indeed, spreading kisses all over his boner, small and short pecks, sometimes he would let his lips linger on the flesh for a little longer, increasing the amazing sensation Antoine was perceiving. 

Koke raised his head shyly as soon as he felt Antoine’s stare, still holding his cock on his hand. He looked almost innocently at Antoine who wasn’t believing his eyes. Antoine swallowed hard, words failing him. He could notice how Koke was feeling vulnerable, his eyes gave it away. He was stepping on an unknown land for him, and he probably felt as if every step was a wrong one. 

“It feels so good Kokito, so good.” Antoine encouraged him. He propped himself up on his elbows, to get a nice view of Koke’s face. Koke was now smiling at him, his cheeks turning pink. Antoine was wondering how on Earth he could look that cute always, even in such a heated up situation.

Wordlessly, Koke nodded and opened his mouth enough to fit the head of Antoine’s cock inside of it. As soon as he heard the first ‘Oh my God’ he continued, reaching the middle of the shaft, and going back to the head, kissing it and sucking on it tenderly. He stopped to see Antoine’s reaction and found his boyfriend panting heavily, with a slightly shocked expression on his face.

“I’ve been practicing.” Koke admitted, stroking lazily Antoine’s cock.

“Excuse me?” Antoine raised an eyebrow, even if his brain was short-circuiting he had enough of a mind to react to those words.

Koke laughed. “Bananas.” He replied, and went back to take care of Antoine’s boner, licking lines all over its surface, circling his tongue, and planting open-mouthed kisses on it. Antoine’s breathing pace increased as Koke sped the strokes up, accompanying them with the heat of his mouth, sucking repeatedly on the flesh, punishing Antoine’s cock. One of those times, he withdrew Antoine’s wet dick from his mouth, and a soft chilly breeze reached them, hitting Antoine’s burning erection and making him squirm. 

“Koke, please, move your body until I can reach you.” Antoine begged. “Let me make you feel really good.” He let out in a suggesting tone. 

“But… I need to focus on this!” Koke replied. “I don’t want it to be a disaster!” He confessed. It was the first time he was giving a blowjob, and he wanted it to be perfect. Antoine sat up, reaching Koke’s face. He gave him a meaningful deep kiss.

“Honey, in bed the two of us should have fun. You’re doing it amazingly good, so you deserve to enjoy a bit too, right?” Antoine explained, introducing his hand into Koke’s underwear, stroking his hot boner. 

“But what if I get carried away and I bite you or something?” Koke asked scared, obtaining a loud laugh from Antoine. Who instantly regretted it.

“Sorry... But I could live with that.” Antoine replied jokingly, inviting Koke to take his underwear off. “You’ll do fine.” He reassured Koke in a sweet tone.

With that promise, Koke obliged and changed his position, lying on his side, his erection now at the reach of Antoine’s hands and mouth. Then he continued his job, wrapping his lips on Antoine’s cock, and sucking on it intensely. 

Antoine tried to hold back the moans, but he shot one directly on Koke’s cock tip, the vibration of his lips sending a shiver down Koke’s spine. When he could get himself together, he started stroking Koke’s shaft, kissing and sucking on his balls. Koke reacted fast, circling his hips as he was increasing the pace of his blowjob. Antoine knew he would come way earlier than Koke, so he didn’t rush things for his boyfriend, as he had the right to enjoy a delightful moment caused by his lips

Koke discovered that when he licked the tip of Antoine’s cock, a raw groan escaped his throat, one kind of groan that made Koke’s cock ache, turning him on more than he could even imagine. He kept on hitting that spot until Antoine was pleading, Koke didn’t know exactly why, but he was pleading desperately. He had abandoned Koke’s cock, and was a shaky mess on the mattress. Koke knew he was close so he picked up the pace, accelerating his hand movements and increasing the intensity of the suction.

At that point Antoine was literally screaming, and Koke was thankful that nobody was crazy enough to be walking on the street that late with that cold, because Antoine’s voice could probably be heard from a good part of the neighbourhood. A few strokes more and Antoine found that sweet release he was needing so much. His cum hit Koke’s chest and chin, his body was spasming and some of his muscles were almost cramping, probably due to the thermal shock between his burning skin, and the freezing wind. Koke was admiring how Antoine had lost control of his body, of his voice, and probably of his mind. 

He changed his position to hug Antoine, after cleaning his chest with the back of his hand, and Antoine felt again the warmth of Koke’s body sheltering him. He hugged back, tightly. His heart pounding violently on his chest. He was still struggling breathing properly, but he had enough air on his lungs to whisper a few ‘I love you’s’ into Koke’s ear.

“This is the best start to a year I’ve had in my life.” Antoine could say with a little stream of voice. Searching Koke’s boner with his hand. When he found it, he went back to stroke it slowly, flashing a blissful smile. Koke placed the duvet over their bodies as he thought that Antoine’s body would quickly cool down. “You care too much about me.” Antoine noted kissing lazily Koke’s jaw. 

“Everything for you...” Koke replied brushing Antoine’s hair with his fingers. “Skunk head.” He let out a snigger.

“You found that too funny, right? My fashion sense is too advanced that a boring person like you can’t understand it.” He replied making fun of Koke, who loved the banter, but loved even more Antoine’s expert motions. His faltering breathing gave it away. 

Antoine sucked softly on Koke’s lower lip making a loud noise, and his hand left Koke’s erection, he turned around, offering his nape to Koke’s lips. Koke wrapped a hand around his waist and kissed his neck and shoulders. Antoine reached Koke’s cock, which was right behind him, and placed it between his ass cheeks. Koke tensed up and Antoine laughed. 

“It’s not what you’re thinking.” And with that, he rolled his hips, rubbing Koke’s cock with his muscled butt. He did it several times until Koke understood what he was trying. His cock was sliding between the firm ass cheeks, which were producing an amazing friction on his hot member. Antoine sometimes clenched his muscles, and Koke became a mess panting heavily against Antoine’s back. “Do you like it?” Antoine asked cheekily, without a trace of doubt that Koke was in heaven. 

“Faster!” Koke demanded between guttural grunts, his arms hugging Antoine’s torso tightly and his hips rolling, increasing the pace.

“How about you take control?” Antoine asked stopping right in his tracks and turning around to face Koke. “You’re going to love this!” 

Antoine pushed away the duvet and laid on his stomach, his round butt standing out, almost seeking Koke’s attention. He slapped it teasingly and kneaded the flesh, inviting Koke to explore. Koke kneeled behind him and kissed the mark Antoine had left on one of the cheeks. 

“You should treat this glorious ass more carefully.” Koke joked, still unsure of what Antoine wanted him to do. 

“My ass can handle that and much more.” He let out in the best seductive tone he owned, which only elicited a soft laugh on Koke. “Now you can control the pace and go as faster as you want. I’m all yours.” Antoine explained, placing a pillow on his abs, raising a bit his hips and making the access easier for Koke.

Koke nodded and grabbed his impossibly painful cock, placing it between Antoine’s ass cheeks, which seemed to welcome it in a warm embrace. Koke thought it was astonishing how his dick almost disappeared between the firm flesh. He placed his hands on Antoine’s hips and started thrusting his hips, making his wet member slide easily through Antoine’s crack. He didn’t increase the pace at first because the feeling was overwhelming, and he wanted it to last as long as possible. Antoine was helping him angling his hips and tensing his muscles up, to the point that the pressure was almost unbearable for Koke.

The vocal one was now Koke, his loud grunts silenced Antoine’s low-key moans. Koke hadn’t even noticed, but all the action was turning Antoine on again at the speed of light. Koke’s cock was stimulating his entrance relentlessly, that area was hypersensitive on Antoine’s body, sometimes he had came simply by rimming. This time it wasn’t a tongue causing chaos, but the member of his boyfriend, this was the closest he had ever come to being fucked by Koke and his mind was racing: Koke’s strong hands gripping his hips firmly, the violent thrusts, the slapping sound of Koke’s body against his ass, his wet cock incredibly close to his hole, Koke’s raw moans breaking the night silence, Antoine in all fours accompanying Koke’s thrusts... It wasn’t necessary too much imagination to pretend that this was the big deal. Koke wasn’t technically inside Antoine in a physical way, but he had flooded Antoine’s body in more ways than one. 

Antoine reached his hardening cock and stroked it in sync with Koke’s movements, his moans now louder resounding on the night. Koke slowed down and reached Antoine’s spine, kissing a line down his back.

“I can’t believe how hot you are. I’m gonna burst soon.” Koke hissed behind Antoine’s ear, enjoying the sound of his pleads.

“Please don’t stop, I want you to come hard, I want you to paint my skin with your hot cum.” Antoine surprised himself with the dirty talk, he always felt ridiculous while doing it, but he was far too gone to think properly, and he assumed Koke would like a bit of fierceness. 

“What else do you want?” Koke asked keeping a steady and slow rhythm. One of his hands sneaking under Antoine’s body to play with one of his nipples.

“I want you to jerk me off while you keep your cock on my ass. Come on, make me see the stars, make me come again!” Antoine babbled, not even thinking his words, but with enough of a mind to not say what he really wanted. He knew that if he asked Koke to fuck him, he would break the mood, Koke wasn’t ready for that, not yet, and Antoine was questioning himself if he was even ready to feel Koke inside of him. 

“Ok.” Koke muttered, kneeling on the mattress and pulling Antoine’s body up until he was kneeling too. He placed his cock between Antoine’s ass cheeks, making them fit together like puzzle pieces. He pressed Antoine’s back against his chest, with one of his arms wrapping his torso protectively, while the other hand wrapped Antoine’s erection. Antoine reached Koke’s ass with his both hands, helping him with the thrusts, kneading his flesh shamelessly. His head was leaning back, resting on Koke’s shoulder, granting Koke access to his neck. 

Koke didn’t think it twice and attacked hungrily Antoine’s neck with his mouth, his hand worked on Antoine’s boner firmly, and his hips were doing the rest. The hand that was on Antoine’s chest was feeling his racing heart, almost pounding off his chest. Antoine was at that point just producing a series of incoherent grunts and moans. Mixing Koke’s name with sweet words, or even things in French. 

A few thrusts more and Koke stilled, his cock spurting his load on Antoine’s ass cheeks, he withdrew Antoine’s cock for a second, to finish himself off with his hand. Stroking his shaft and making the last drops of cum land on Antoine’s punished ass. Antoine felt the hot liquid burning his skin, and that made his cock twitch. Koke’s heavy breathing was inundating his hearing. Koke had stopped all his motions and his forehead was pressed against Antoine’s shoulder blade. Antoine understood how tired he was so he didn’t demand attention for his painful boner.

Antoine turned around, cupping Koke’s sweaty face with his hands, kissing him sweetly. Feeling the drops of semen race down his legs, tingling his skin. He would take care of that later, in that moment he just wanted to thank Koke the amazing night he had gifted him. 

“You always exceed my expectations. I can’t believe all you’ve done today.” Antoine said rubbing Koke’s cheeks with his thumbs. 

“I hope you’ve enjoyed it as much as I’ve done it.” Koke replied with a soft tone, almost vulnerable. caressing Antoine’s sides. “Now let me finish my job.” He begged, paying attention to Antoine’s boner.

Antoine wanted to tell him that there was no need to do that, but as he stroked it a few times, he felt that indeed there was a strong need to do that. There was no possible way he could sleep with that painful thing between his legs.

“You drive me crazy.” Koke confessed, pleasuring Antoine. “Your ass feels so amazing.”

“If it feels that good being around that ass, imagine being inside of it.” Antoine blurted out without thinking, hoping that his words weren’t too blunt for Koke. 

Koke replied by tightening his grip around Antoine’s cock, sucking violently on his neck first, and then on his lips.

“Every day that passes, the idea of fucking you seems more and more appealing. To bury myself deeply into you, causing you to lose your mind and beg for more.” Koke whispered between messy kisses, Antoine was panting heavily, not really believing his ears, rolling his hips unconsciously.

“You already make me feel all of that. But yeah, I really want to feel you inside of me, I want you to hit my sweet spot, I want to lose my voice because of you.” Antoine kissed sweetly Koke’s cheek. “And I really want you to feel ready for that, to feel comfortable about it, to not rush it. It will happen whenever you’re ready, and that will be the best part of it.”

“What have I done to deserve a boyfriend this perfect and understanding?” Koke asked with his heart jumping on his ribcage after Antoine’s words. 

“You’ve done everything.” Antoine confessed, feeling close to the edge. 

Koke smiled and pushed Antoine’s chest, making him lay on his back, increasing the speed of his strokes, and losing himself on Antoine’s neck, spreading kisses all over the place. Antoine grabbed Koke’s face and kissed him bruisingly, only stopping to let out a loud cry. His body started shaking violently, reaching his second orgasm of the night. This second one was even more intense than the previous one, waves of pleasure washing over his body. 

His body felt shattered but his soul felt complete. As soon as he regained conscience, he curled against Koke’s body and placed the duvet over their bodies, looking up at the stars which were smiling to them. 

“Happy New Year, Grizi.” Koke whispered kissing the top of his head. 

Antoine held back the tears forming on his eyes, caused by the emotional rollercoaster he was going through. 

“I love you.” He whispered back.


	36. Chapter 36

The cold winter sun appeared shy behind some dark clouds. It was the first day of January, and Antoine was tangled in Koke’s embrace, the year couldn’t have started any better.

He was starting to feel cold but he didn’t want to move a single inch, he was right where he wanted to be, and probably in the place he wanted to be for the rest of his life. Koke’s strong arms surrounded his body, nestling it. The warmth that Koke’s body irradiated felt welcoming and nice, inviting Antoine to never leave that bed. 

Unfortunately he knew better, the strict training plan was difficult to ignore and they had to wake up with enough time to fit a shower and breakfast before leaving, and skipping any of the two wasn’t an option. Breakfast was necessary, and the hints of the previous night’s battle were still visible on their bodies, way too obvious for the oblivious eye. They had to wash them away to keep their secret safe, and because it wasn’t very comfortable to walk around with traces of dry body fluids on the skin. 

Antoine laughed at himself, noticing how he didn’t care at all about that last night. ‘I will clean myself up later’ he had promised, but as soon as he was done, and Koke’s cuddles were waiting for him, he completely forgot about that tiny detail. His body was a mess, and Koke’s too, but it was a kind of beautiful mess, he would admit. 

Koke was breathing peacefully, and Antoine felt incredibly sorry but he had to wake him up, they were running out of time. He started by kissing his jaw, shaking his body softly, maybe too softly. 

“Good morning sleepy head.” Antoine whispered directly into Koke’s ear, tapping his chest with his fingers. Koke grunted a bit. “I know, but we have to shower like yesterday, so move that sexy ass to the shower and meet me there, don’t be lazy!” He sealed his petition with another cheek kiss and stood up, walking to the bathroom. 

Antoine surely knew how to motivate Koke, as it only took him two minutes to appear through the bathroom door. Antoine was washing his hair, oblivious to his boyfriend’s presence. Koke was admiring that stunning body surrounded by the steam, he almost looked like a fairytale character. He stepped into the shower and curled an arm around Antoine’s waist, kissing his shoulder. 

“Good morning, beautiful!” Koke continued nuzzling Antoine’s body, spreading naughty kisses everywhere. “You taste like shampoo.” He complained. 

A loud laugh echoed on the bathroom, morning Koke was the best Koke. Antoine loved his nonsense and his touchiness. He grabbed a sponge and poured out a big amount of shower gel on it, he turned around to face Koke and smiled to him, he gave him a deep good morning kiss, and pushed the sponge against his chest. 

“Help me to clean up the mess you created yesterday, I can’t reach it very well.” And with that he turned around again, waiting for that helping hand. 

Koke stood there looking at the sponge for a few seconds, as if the wet object was some kind of alien device. When his sleepy brain finally reacted, he reached to Antoine’s back, rubbing circles on the lower part of it. Koke was surprised at how tricky was to clean the dry evidence of their great night. He left to himself a mental note: to clean himself and Antoine up when everything was recent as it was much easier than this. He had kneeled to get a better access and he noticed that he had rubbed a zone so much that the skin was turning red. 

He continued until everything looked back to normal, then he dropped the sponge and kept on staring at Antoine’s round bum. It was hypnotizingly perfect, the water made it glow in the intense bathroom light, and he couldn’t help kissing it, sucking one of the cheeks intensely causing a big noise. 

“Fuck!” Antoine shouted. “I can’t believe you!” Koke’s mouth felt always so extremely nice that he hated himself for making him stop. “We don’t have time for that!” 

Antoine turned around and found Koke there, kneeling in front of him, looking up with a cheeky expression. He was caressing his legs up and down, trying to tease him.

“Kokito, we need to have breakfast, you don’t want to faint in the first training of the year. We can continue later from this point.” Antoine was surprised at how adult he was sounding. Of course he wanted Koke to suck him off right there, but first things came first.

“Ok, you win.” Koke admitted standing up. “But it’s your fault for being so damn irresistible.” He kissed Antoine’s neck with open-mouthed kisses, in a last attempt to change his mind.

 

Profe Ortega loved days like that. He always prepared especially hard training sessions on those signaled days. He loved to make fun of his players when they looked slow. 

“Ha Godin, have you been eating too much asado? You look so heavy, someone help Godin to jump over the hurdles.” He would shout earning laughs from all the players. 

When Profe’s show was over, they all went to shower, receive their post-training massages, and leave to enjoy the rest of the first day of the year. It was when Antoine and Koke were leaving through the locker room door when Simeone intercepted them. 

“Guys, I’d like to talk to you in my office.” He asked in a ‘coach’ tone. 

Antoine and Koke looked at each other with a dubious look, almost scared. Sometimes Simeone was quite unpredictable. When they reached the office, the two young men sat across the table, facing Diego. 

“Well, I guess you imagine why I’ve brought you here.” Simeone started after clearing his throat. When he saw his players raising their eyebrows, clueless, he decided to be a little less enigmatic. “Your relationship.” 

The two young men tensed up, waiting for more information from their coach, they had a huge respect for him and they didn’t want to interrupt him.

“I’ve noticed something that has surprised me a bit.” He continued slowly, almost looking as if he wanted to be interrupted, to add more mystery to his speech. ”Since you two are together, your performance level has increased quite a lot.” A sigh of relief was almost audible, out from Koke’s lips. Antoine smiled softly and nodded, waiting for their coach to say more. “And I’m not only talking about Antoine’s three goals against Athletic, it’s everything. Your dynamics, your fire on the pitch, how you seem more focused than ever. I’m pleasantly surprised.” 

“I told you we were professionals. We’re not going to let any personal matter interfere with our work.” Antoine replied. “Why there should be any problem?” 

“I don’t know.” Simeone shrugging his shoulders. “I love my girlfriend, but I’m not sure I could work with her. So many hours together, so many stressful moments… I’m glad you made it work.” 

“Thanks Mister.” Koke replied shyly. Even though he knew Simeone for a few years, he always was extra careful talking to him, as if he didn’t want to say anything wrong. 

“As both of you have improved your performance level, and are handling this so well, I have decided that, if you want, you can share again rooms at the hotels.” Antoine and Koke looked at each other with excited smiles painted on their faces. “Well, also Gabi wants to switch back as he can’t stand the music Antoine plays.” Simeone recognized with a funny face. 

“What’s wrong with my music?” Antoine asked offended.

“I would love to share rooms with Antoine again.” Koke replied to Simeone’s proposal. 

“Of course, you have to follow some rules.” Simeone continued. “The rule number one is no unnecessary physical wear before matches, you know what I mean.” 

“The no sex rule, ok, gotcha.” Antoine replied bluntly, almost causing Koke blush. Simeone shook his head amused at his player’s straightforward attitude and continued. 

“The second rule is that if at some point, you lower your performance level and I have the suspicion that it’s caused by a personal matter, I will separate you again, and probably for good.” 

Antoine and Koke nodded, it was more than reasonable. Maybe any other coach would have never allowed them to share a room in the first place. 

“And that’s pretty much it. Guys I really trust you, I know you’re going to do well. Please, don’t prove me wrong.” Simeone finished his speech. 

“We won’t disappoint you, you’ll see.” Koke promised and shook hands with Simeone. Antoine mimicked him and they left the office. 

Simeone was crossing his fingers for his plan to succeed. Maybe it wasn’t the most orthodox motivation technique, but he knew that giving them this little ‘prize’ was the best way to keep them focused. Since he knew about their relationship and he separated them, he was scared of them wanting to sneak into each other’s rooms, or that kind of silly things people do when they’re in love. He didn’t want any kind of distraction on them or the team. It’s then when the idea of reuniting them appeared on his head. He knew that doing that to two twenty-somethings was much of a risky move, but if it worked out, two of his most important players would be at a great level. It was worth a try.

 

“Isn’t this the best first of January you’ve ever had?” Koke asked excitedly driving the car.

“Pretty much.” Antoine replied. “I can’t believe we’re going to be able to cuddle and sleep together before matches. You don’t even know how much I miss you.”  
Koke blushed and kept his eyes on the road, flashing a shy smile. 

“You say that because you’re getting rid of Gabi, confess it!” Koke joked. 

“I appreciate him, but I’m not going to cry because we’re not sharing rooms anymore.” Antoine ironized. 

“But you know, we can’t fuck things up, Simeone trusts us.” Koke said solemnly, parking his car in front of Antoine’s house. 

“We’re going to do well, you’ll see.” Antoine caressed Koke’s hand. “So… my place?” 

“Yeah, I’ve got something in mind.” Koke replied leaving the car. 

When they entered the house, Koke turned around to face Antoine and placed his hands softly on his waist. 

“I don’t know about you, but after today’s training my whole body feels heavy and tired, so I had thought that maybe, it’d be a good idea to use that wonderful hot tub of yours.” He suggested excitedly. Antoine shook his head but couldn’t say ‘no’ to that puppy face. 

“Ok, give it ten minutes until it’s properly working and the water is warm.” He laughed, walking to the garden. 

While they were waiting for the water to be ready, they sat on the living room sofas. 

“So, your Birthday is almost here, aren’t you excited?” Antoine asked with a big grin. 

“Oh you didn’t forget!” Koke exclaimed surprised. “It’s so close to Christmas that usually everybody forgets about it.” He said shrugging his shoulders.

“Of course I didn’t forget. What are your plans for the day?” 

“I will eat with my family as usual, but since then I will be free.”

“Fine, save your afternoon and evening for me. I have plans.” Antoine confessed, raising an eyebrow. 

“I like the sound of that.” Koke smiled proudly. He looked at the hot tub through the window. “Do you think it’s ready?”

“Probably, do you want a pair of swimming shorts?” 

Koke snorted and rolled his eyes. Antoine understood. They walked to the hot tub, enduring the cold outside. In any other situation they would probably had undressed each other slowly, savouring the moment, but if they didn’t want to freeze in the spot, they had to do it as fast as possible. 

As soon as the hot water embraced their bodies, they relaxed, as if they were floating in a cloud. They were sitting side by side, pressing their backs against the walls, receiving the bubble massage in their tired muscles.

 “Such a long time since the last time we used this thing.” Koke remembered. He was arching his back and letting his head fall back, whenever he talked, a cloud of mist left his lips.

 “Yeah, I will never forget that day.” Antoine smiled, mimicking Koke’s movements. “That’s the night you kissed me for the first time.” 

Koke returned to his original position and looked at Antoine, he admired his profile, and how his Adam’s apple stood out on his always appealing neck. When Antoine felt Koke’s gaze he turned to his side to face him. Koke was beaming, his cheeks were rosy and his eyes were smiling. 

“Tell me what did you feel!” Koke asked excitedly. 

“I think I told you back in the day, right?” Antoine had a gifted memory when it was about his relationship with Koke. 

“Yeah, but ‘back in the day’ you didn’t want to overwhelm me because I was terribly confused so you didn’t really explain to me the real dimension of your feelings.” Koke explained quite eloquently to Antoine’s surprise. “Please, I want to know.”

“Ok.” Antoine laughed and grabbed one of Koke’s hands, intertwining their fingers. “The first thing I felt was surprise, not in a million years I would have imagined that you would ever kiss me. Then I felt incredibly nervous, and my whole body started shaking, but I tried to control it the best I could. My heart was pounding so violently on my chest, it almost hurt.” 

“I remember that.” Koke smiled. “I could feel it too. I thought you were having a heart attack.” Koke wrapped his other arm around Antoine’s waist while he was continuing his story. 

“I was also extremely scared of doing something wrong, I didn’t know why you were kissing me, I didn’t know if you wanted me to kiss you back, I didn’t know a thing! It was so stressful.” Antoine exclaimed playing with Koke’s fingers. His free hand curled around Koke’s nape, and he gently caressed the short hair in there with his fingers. “So I just closed my eyes hoping to not faint in the spot. I remember how tingly your stubble felt against my face, how dry your lips were, I remember your shaky fingertips against my skin, even though in that moment I couldn’t tell if it was you shaking or if it was just me.” 

“I was shaking, I can confirm.” Koke pointed out, rubbing his thumb in circles on Antoine’s side. 

“About the kiss I remember that it was extremely short, right when I was realizing that you were kissing me...” He added emphasis in the words ‘you’ and ‘me’ raising his eyebrows. “you were gone. And for a second I felt terrified, because I didn’t know if it had been that short because you were instantly regretting it. So I opened my eyes full of doubt just to find your serious face welcoming me, and when I saw you I said ‘this is it Antoine, this is where it ends.’ and in an attempt to go back to reality I touched your lips, and that’s when you smiled and I breathed because you weren’t regretting anything, and then I thought ‘it’s now or never’ and I tried to go for a second kiss but chickened out in the very last moment. Until I noticed that you really wanted it to happen so I did it.” 

Koke was listening intently to Antoine’s explanations, and he was trying to remember his point of view of that wonderful first kiss. 

“I didn’t know you were so scared, I was terrified as well!” Koke admitted. 

“I’m really interested in hearing your version. Like, why did you kiss me out of the blue? What did you feel?” Antoine asked releasing Koke’s hand to complete the hug around his neck. Koke placed his now free hand on top of the other one, just above Antoine’s hip. 

“Well, first of all I must say that I hadn’t planned that at all. I had never thought about kissing you. At that time I felt incredibly comfortable around you, I loved to spend time with you, I enjoyed when we were alone, I was looking forward to those kind of moments, but a kiss wasn’t something that had crossed my mind. So when we were in that bed and I saw you so vulnerable and so fragile, I really wanted to comfort you, but somehow instead of a hug, my heart decided that a kiss was a better option. So even before I could register it I was kissing you, and when I noticed what I was doing, I quickly drew away because I didn’t really know your feelings for me and I thought that maybe I could be bothering you with that kiss. I mean, you were just my friend, you never told me that you had special feelings for me, so I thought that just because of that simple moment of losing control I was ruining our friendship. And then you opened your eyes and you didn’t look bothered, you looked... incredulous, so I smiled because I was relieved of not having spoiled things.” 

Antoine smiled at how Koke was developing his story, and when he paused to catch a bit of fresh air, Antoine approached him to kiss him sweetly.

 “So you didn’t know that I was completely stuck on you before that moment?” Antoine asked after the kiss, looking forward to the answer. 

“How could I have known? The only thing I knew is that you were gay because you told me, but that didn’t change things. I knew you were into men, but I was sure that you weren’t into me and you just wanted us to be friends. That’s why I was so scared when I kissed you, because I thought you would be thinking that I was kissing you for ‘experimenting’ or something like that. Or even worse, maybe you would think that I was kissing you because I was assuming that you’d like it for sure just because I am a man. And that was so far from my real intentions that I was frightened.” Koke explained. 

“And which were your real intentions?” Antoine asked, still surprised at Koke’s coherency in that moment. He remembered how the ‘experimenting’ part was a real concern, as Koke had not had any gay relationships before, but he wasn’t expecting Koke to actually think about that. 

“My real intentions were to make you feel good and to make you feel understood.” Koke replied, caressing Antoine’s skin soothingly. “When you kissed me back, there was a knot in my stomach, and the deeper was the kiss, the most my body felt like jello. I was incredibly nervous and excited, but above all, I felt unbelievably good. The kiss felt so right, it was like fitting a last puzzle piece. In that moment my life seemed complete.” 

“Wow, I didn’t know that kiss had had such a huge impact on you!” Antoine exclaimed. 

“It really did. During my whole life I felt there was a gap, something was missing. I had professional success, a loving family, all those things. I knew that I was lacking love. And I was always optimistic about finding my soulmate and all those fairytales things. But I never seemed to meet anybody interesting or appealing enough to fill that gap. Little I knew that filling that gap would lead to such a big discovery about my sexuality.” 

“You didn’t see it coming.” Antoine pointed out kissing Koke’s cheek. He wouldn’t mention it out loud, but he loved the implication on Koke’s words that he was his soulmate and the puzzle piece that was missing in his life. 

“Not at all. It was so weird Grizi, I thought people found themselves way earlier in life. I felt that it took me extremely long to notice. Why did it take me so long?” 

“It’s obvious, because you didn’t know me yet.” Antoine replied winking cheekily at Koke. “But you know, I feel like everybody grows up conditioned by society into thinking that ‘you’re hetero unless proven otherwise’ and a lot of people start by having hetero relationships that don’t really fulfil them just for the sake of it, until they discover that they been playing with the wrong team all along. And that’s what happened to you, or to the man Saul mentioned. There’s other people who notice a lot earlier than that, but believe me that it doesn’t make things any easier for them. The only relevant thing is that you finally found what really makes you happy, and you shouldn’t care about the how or the when.” 

Koke grinned at Antoine’s speech and hugged him tightly. 

“You always know what to say to make me feel good, huh?” Koke whispered into his ear, biting playfully on his earlobe. 

“Not only that.” Antoine let out a soft laugh. “I also know what to do to make you feel really good.” 

Koke broke the hug and looked intensely into Antoine’s eyes, there was a special sparkle on them, almost a mischievous glint. He closed up the gap between them to share a deep kiss with him. As their tongues were fighting, they felt the heat increasing in their bodies. 

They had not forgotten. They had something to finish off.


	37. Chapter 37

The incessant bubbles kept on popping on the water surface, between them, there were two bodies tangled in a sweet dance.

Antoine had his back pressed against the hot tub walls, everything else around him was Koke. His boyfriend had him trapped in that narrow corner and he wasn’t complaining. Koke’s lips were travelling tirelessly all over his exposed skin. They would go from his lips, to his cheeks, down his neck, to end up in his collarbones right at the waterline. Koke would press a kiss in them and then would start the travel back to Antoine’s awaiting mouth.

Under the water, things were still calm. Their hands ghosted over the other’s skin, just teasing, not really touching. Their legs were brushing softly, and the bubbles were taking care of the rest.

“Hmmm so good.” Antoine whispered unconsciously while Koke was kissing his pulse point. He had his hands pressed firmly in the small of Koke’s back, sometimes sliding a bit lower than that, Koke didn’t seem to care as he kept on gifting kisses in every inch of Antoine’s upper body.

“I love kissing you so much.” Koke admitted with a funny face, looking at Antoine. “You make some of the most amazing sounds.” Antoine blushed and covered his face with his hands. His cheeks were burning and his pearly smile was the only visible thing for Koke, who was enjoying his sudden shyness. Koke roamed his fingertips over Antoine’s abs, tingling his belly. “And when I make you smile like that time seems to stop.” 

“Oh my God! How cheesy can you get?” Antoine screamed half-jokingly, still hiding his flushed face. Koke grabbed his wrists and pulled his hands apart, discovering an almost embarrassed look on Antoine. Koke smiled satisfied and pressed his forehead against Antoine’s. Antoine closed his eyes and felt how Koke’s breathing was tingling his face. 

“I’m so in love with you Grizi, you have no idea.” Koke muttered, setting Antoine’s hands free. 

Antoine opened his eyes and softly pushed Koke a bit away from him, to admire his sincere brown eyes. _‘That boy is transparent’._ Antoine remembered his coach’s words and enjoyed how accurate they were. No matter what Koke said, Antoine knew it was true. 

His pulse accelerated at Koke’s words, he felt his heart doing backflips on his ribcage, and he was pretty happy to be floating on water because he was pretty sure that his legs were trembling so much that they wouldn’t support his weight. He placed his hands on Koke’s nape and pulled him closer, until he was welcoming him with a hungry kiss. Antoine was kissing almost desperately, taking the air out of Koke’s lungs with his eagerness. 

When they broke the kiss, they were panting. Maybe they had to work a bit better on controlling all that passion. As soon as they were able to breathe normally again, they were kissing each other again, this time a bit more calmly. Antoine directed one of his hands downwards to reach Koke’s ass, and guided his hips until their crotches were contacting. Antoine finished the move surrounding Koke’s body with his legs, locking him. Koke didn’t need words to start grinding against Antoine’s body, their cocks starting to harden. 

“You’re going to love what I’ve planned for you.” Antoine whispered into Koke’s ear. “But I need you to really trust me.” 

“I always trust you.” Koke replied, increasing the pressure on Antoine’s groin. 

Antoine smiled and lowered one of his hands until he reached Koke’s cock, he wrapped it carefully and started to tug on the hardening member. 

“I’ve noticed something.” Antoine pointed out searching Koke’s lips to kiss him. “The swimming pool, the shower, the hot tub… when we’re surrounded by water, you’re always horny.” 

Koke laughed into the kiss, and grabbed one of Antoine’s ass cheeks, kneading it softly. 

“I can’t say you’re wrong.” 

“So, what happens when it rains?” Antoine asked cheekily, increasing the pace of his strokes. 

To answer him, Koke attacked him in a raw kiss. His hips started thrusting into Antoine’s fist, and his moans increased in pitch. Antoine hummed and kept on controlling the rhythm in which he was pleasuring Koke, despite his boyfriend’s efforts of rushing things. 

“I like rainy matches, because when they finish, you have all your clothes glued to your skin, and I can see your beautiful body without a problem.” Koke replied breathily. 

“You can always see my body without a problem!” Antoine reminded him. He didn’t need Koke to ask him twice, he would admit. 

“I don’t know, it’s different. The wet clothes give it a special touch.” Koke was starting to have troubles to form sentences without interruptions, the pleasure was getting to him. “I’m so close!” He announced, thrusting erratically his hips. 

“Good.” Antoine said, and with a swift movement, he pushed Koke away from him, breaking all contact. 

Koke looked at him shocked, not understanding why he had stopped all of a sudden. He found Antoine grinning, caressing lazily his own boner. Antoine stood up, the cold air hitting his warm body. 

“Let’s continue this inside!” He said winking, and offering his hand to a Koke who was still processing Antoine’s weird behaviour. Koke stood up wordlessly and shivered when his erection left the hot water. 

They left the hot tub carefully and ran inside the living room. There were two towels waiting for them as Antoine had prepared them before entering the hot tub. Antoine grabbed his and threw Koke the other one, Koke caught it before it hit the floor and started drying out the running water drops in his skin. 

“I need you to dry yourself really well.” Antoine said, smiling at how clumsily Koke was drying himself. It was quite obvious that most of his bloodstream wasn’t precisely in his brain in that given moment. 

Koke looked at him and raised an eyebrow, playing with Antoine was exciting but very very exhausting. It would be way easier if he explained to him his intentions, but Antoine didn’t like things that easy and he preferred torturing Koke that way. At least it was a good kind of torture. 

“Come on! Follow me!” Antoine started running towards his room. Koke rolled his eyes and followed him lazily. When he arrived Antoine was lying on the bed, caressing the fabric around him. “I’ve bought silk sheets!” He exclaimed excitedly. “They feel so good!” 

“So this was your plan? Silk sheets? I mean, they’re great but…” Koke tried to hide his disappointment failing miserably. Antoine let out a loud laugh.

“You’re so silly, come here!” Antoine suggested frolicking in the mattress. 

Koke kneeled on the edge of the bed, and let his weight fall, bouncing a bit back. He touched the soft fabric and smiled. They really felt nice. He rolled his body until he was hugging Antoine. 

“If you think it’s only the sheets, you’re very wrong.” 

And before Koke could ever register it, Antoine had straddled his lap and was spreading kisses all over his chest. Antoine reached Koke’s erection and he noticed how it wasn’t that hard anymore and Koke probably was far from his orgasm, so he stepped into the next level. 

His wet lips started sucking Koke’s shaft, earning a surprised moan from Koke, who was looking down admiring how Antoine had apparently decided to speed things up. His mouth was working wonders on his hot boner, tickling the sensitive skin, sending waves of pleasure down his spine. Antoine lowered his face to pay a bit of attention to Koke’s balls, sucking on them sonorously, while stroking his length. 

Koke went back to the incoherent moans, which turned coherent when it was to pronounce Antoine’s name, or to declare his love for him. Every time Antoine listened to those words, he felt goosebumps, it was amazing how easy was for Koke to say ‘I love you’ now. He continued his work putting Koke’s erection into his unbearably hot mouth, and sucking tenderly on it. His tongue played against Koke’s flesh, increasing the stimulation. When he reached the tip, he swirled his tongue in circles around Koke’s tip, tantalizingly slow. 

“Oh my God!” Koke screamed, all his muscles tensing up. 

Antoine withdrew Koke’s boner, and caressed his lower abs with his hands, travelling up through his torso, his chest, to reach his jaw, which he cupped. He lowered his face to kiss Koke sweetly on the lips. 

“How do you feel?” Antoine whispered into Koke’s lips, licking them playfully. 

“I’m probably going to lose my mind in any moment now.” He replied panting heavily. “Grizi I need to come, I’m so close!”

“I know!” Antoine acknowledged, tracing with his index finger Koke’s jawline. 

Koke looked at him impatiently, almost annoyed, he sighed deeply and directed one of his hands to his crotch, where the unfinished work was waiting. Antoine noticed and grabbed his wrist right when he was reaching his goal.

“Don’t” Antoine warned in a soft yet firm tone. Trapping both of Koke’s hands. 

“Is this a revenge for that day when I teased you so much? Gosh I’m so sorry Grizi, this is painful as hell!” Koke apologized. 

“It’s not.” Antoine laughed softly. “Soon you will understand. How does your whole body feel right now? Are you calmer?” He asked kissing the angle of Koke’s jaw. 

“Yeah, I guess.” Koke admitted frustrated. He was far from understanding what was going on, but Antoine had asked him to trust him, and that was what he was going to do. 

“Cool. Turn around.” Antoine asked setting Koke’s hands free. 

Koke obeyed and he lay on his belly, Antoine had placed a pillow under his abs so his erection wasn’t that trapped under his weight. Koke appreciated the detail, and relaxed over the soft silk sheets. 

Antoine sat on Koke’s butt, and placed his hands against his lower back, pinching the muscles tenderly. He continued upwards, treating all of Koke’s tired muscles. 

“I love your back so much, I could spend the day staring at it.” Antoine said absent-mindedly, tracing Koke’s anatomy with his index finger, really slowly. 

Koke closed his eyes and smiled at the tingly sensation, Antoine’s weight was firm on his hips, his voice was low and sweet, and his personal scent floated on the room. He could even forget for a second the intense pain on his crotch, Antoine had denied his orgasm twice, and he really needed his sweet release, but he also wanted Antoine to pay attention to his body forever. 

Then Antoine’s index finger was substituted by his hot lips, planting open-mouthed kisses everywhere at his reach. Koke shivered as he was reaching his nape, he could perceive Antoine’s erection pressed against his back, and for a second he thought about how selfish he was, he was only thinking about his needs, but Antoine had been pleasuring him for a while not asking for anything in return. 

“Grizi…” Koke said letting out a soft purr when Antoine sucked on his shoulder. “Come here.” He said tapping with his hand the empty mattress by his side. 

Antoine dismounted him and obeyed, lying on the silk sheets by Koke’s side, looking at him with a nice smile. In a matter of seconds Koke was attacking his mouth hungrily, sucking on his lips and trying to reach his tongue. A bruising kiss that took Antoine by surprise and almost took his breath away. Koke’s hand was placed on Antoine’s jaw firmly, directing the motions. His other hand travelled down south, wrapping Antoine’s boner. 

An uncontrollable deep moan left Antoine’s lips, followed by a breathy laugh. He left Koke take control and placed his hands on both sides of Koke’s face. He opened his eyes wide, letting the intense blue pierce Koke’s soul. Koke almost shuddered, there was something on those lust-painted eyes that hinted that there were nowhere close to finish their business. 

Koke twisted his wrist in one of the strokes, increasing the pressure on Antoine’s shaft. Antoine’s cock was incredibly hard, he could almost feel the veins pulsating under his touch. Antoine let out a loud raw moan that almost scared Koke. 

“You’re becoming very good at this.” Antoine let out, breathing heavily, his normal voice tone completely altered. 

“I’m learning from the best.” Koke replied before kissing intensely Antoine’s lips again. 

As Koke’s hand kept on working, their kisses became messier, and Antoine’s moans echoed louder in the room. Koke abandoned his mouth to search for his pulse point, sucking on it, and driving Antoine crazy. Antoine’s body started shaking, and his muscles were tensing up. 

“How close are you?” Koke whispered into his ear. 

“Almost there.” Antoine replied with his voice breaking. 

And then Koke stopped completely. he dropped Antoine’s cock which was almost exploding, obtaining a complaining grunt from Antoine. 

“I think it’s a good moment for you to tell me what game is this” Koke faced Antoine with a funny smile. Antoine was looking at him with an annoyed expression, still trying to recover his normal breathing pace. 

“I can’t believe you’re this rancorous.” Antoine said, drying the sweat on his forehead and trying to calm himself down. “Edging.” 

“What’s that?” Koke asked raising an eyebrow. 

“It’s called edging because you get close to the edge, almost to that point in which you’re pleading, and then you stop everything to calm your body down. So in a few minutes you can do it again, and again, and again…” 

Koke nodded at Antoine’s explanation, and bit his lower lip, feeling aroused by the whole concept. 

“It’s believed that when you do it several times, when you finally get to come, your orgasm is intense, and blissful, and amazing, and you almost lose your mind.” 

“So you’ve tried it before?” Koke asked curious. 

“Only once, I came during the third ‘round’ when I was attempting to do five. I was all by myself though, I thought that trying it with you would be a lot better.” Antoine traced his index fingers up Koke’s chest, shooting a cheeky smile at him. 

“I’m glad to see that you weren’t torturing me for the sake of it. So… how was that orgasm?” 

“One of the best I’ve gifted to myself. Look! I get goosebumps from remembering it.” Antoine showed the skin of his arm to Koke, who rolled his eyes caressing it. 

“So I’m in ‘round 3’ and you are in ‘round 2’ how about we balance things out?” Koke suggested, placing his hand on Antoine’s waist. 

“I’m all yours.” Antoine flashed a mischievous smile, kissing Koke’s cheek.

 The game was on.


	38. Chapter 38

Koke knew that Antoine was still too aroused to reach the next ‘edge’. A bit of stimulation would mean Antoine losing control and spoiling the fun for the two of them. So he decided to trace his fingertips soothingly over Antoine’s skin. Gliding them smoothly, causing goosebumps in those zones they reached. Antoine buried his face on Koke’s neck, his eyes closed, trying to focus on Koke’s motions and not in his aching boner.

When Koke reached Antoine’s elbow, his fingers travelled down his forearm when they encountered Antoine’s little bandage. It was wet from their previous adventure and Koke furrowed his brows.

“When are you going to take this off. I’m sure the burn is healed by now.”

“I’m trying to obey the Doctor. He said two weeks for it to be completely healed.”

“As if you ever listened to other people.” Koke joked, his fingers travelling past the bandage and leaving it behind. “It must be such a nasty burn to need so much time to heal.”

“Is this your way to worry for me?” Antoine asked cheekily, abandoning Koke’s neck and looking at his face with a silly grin. “It’s so cute!”

Koke rolled his eyes and continued moving his hand, reaching Antoine’s and intertwining his fingers with his. Antoine showed a sweet smile when he felt his hand tangled with Koke’s, and caressed Koke’s skin with his fingers. Koke brought Antoine’s hand towards his mouth and kissed his knuckles, right where the word “hope” was tattooed. Antoine felt like blushing, he could be completely naked and hard in front of Koke, but were tiny romantic details like this which made him feel weaker on the knees.

Antoine felt his cheeks burning and he looked shyly at Koke through his long eyelashes, Koke moved his hand, which was still tangled to Antoine’s, until he reached one of his rosy cheeks, caressing it with his index finger. Antoine enjoyed the soft touch and closed his eyes, breathing deeply, the air he was exhaling tickled Koke’s face.

“You look at peace.” Koke whispered, almost not wanting to break Antoine’s bubble.

“That’s because I am.” Antoine smiled widely and opened his eyes. “I love when it’s only the two of us. It’s my happy place.”

“Do you also feel like we could spend hours doing nothing and it still would be better than anything else just because we’re together?”

Antoine adored the innocence in Koke’s words. He was discovering so many things that always were typically linked to love. This was Koke’s first time being in love, and Antoine hoped it would also be the last one. A bunch of those powerful sentiments were brand new to Koke, and Antoine was really proud of being the one awakening them.

“I feel we could spend days doing nothing and it’d be the best thing ever. When do you say we go on holidays?” Antoine joked, closing the gap between them and planting a sweet kiss on Koke’s lips.

Koke replied with a soft laugh and kissed him back, caressing the side of Antoine’s body with his fingers, travelling down really slowly, he rubbed his thumb against Antoine’s hipbone and Antoine smiled into the kiss. Koke’s hand continued ghosting over Antoine’s skin, tickling it pleasantly. In Antoine’s lower abs he stopped, Antoine broke their kiss.

“Don’t tease me.” He whispered against Koke’s lips. 

“Ok, you get to choose what do I do next.” Koke replied playing with Antoine’s delicate skin.

“Which are my options?” Antoine asked defiantly.

“Use your imagination, you’re good at that.”

Antoine smirked and even before Koke noticed, he had left him all alone in the bed. He appeared with two scarves. Koke looked at him with a confused expression. Antoine threw them to Koke while he joined him in the mattress.

“Use one to tie my hands to the headboard. Use the other one to cover your eyes.” Antoine said excitedly, raising his arms over his head, waiting for Koke to obey him.

“Your kinkiness is showing.” Koke raised an eyebrow. He ignored the sudden rush of blood that travelled down his body and shook his cock. It was such a hot idea.

Koke tied Antoine’s hands together and then he linked them to the bed’s headboard quite firmly. Antoine checked that the knot was strong enough and smiled satisfied. Then Koke covered his eyes, and searched Antoine’s body moving his hand on the air, Antoine laughed softly until Koke's hand found his chest.

“Are you sure this is a good idea? I may be too clumsy for this.” Koke recognized, tapping Antoine’s body until he found his chin.

“It’s going to be amazing, I’m sure.” Antoine reassured him. “Now kiss me.”

Koke lowered his face slowly until his nose found Antoine’s cheek, then he moved his hand through Antoine’s stubble until his lips. He traced their outline, feeling Antoine’s smile. He moved his face to kiss the corner of Antoine’s mouth first, making that smile grow. He continued sharing small kisses all over Antoine’s sensitive lips. Koke’s hands moved tentatively over Antoine’s body, appreciating the sounds Antoine was making. He reached one of his nipples and caressed it tenderly, making Antoine hiss. 

The path the hands were making was followed by Koke’s lips, soon those naughty fingers were replaced by Koke’s hot tongue, which played with Antoine’s hardened nipple. Antoine thrusted his hips on the air, demanding attention. Koke couldn’t see it but he felt the mattress shaking, Antoine’s patience was disappearing. 

Koke continued the journey of his lips, travelling south to Antoine’s abs, his fingers accompanied them, making Antoine smile at the tingly sensation. Antoine admired how slowly Koke moved with his eyes covered. He moved his hands first and then he followed with his mouth, making sure that he was following the correct path. The longest Koke was taking to reach his erection, the harder it became. The anticipation was getting to him.

A few seconds later Koke found his goal. He wrapped a hand tenderly around Antoine’s boner, and his lips followed kissing his shaft. The gasp that left Antoine’s lungs made him smile. He kept on spreading wet kisses over the hard flesh, sucking on it teasingly. He stuck out his tongue and licked lines, tasting Antoine’s skin. Koke hummed approvingly and carried on, his lips lingering on Antoine’s hot cock. 

The sucking noises were almost silenced by Antoine’s increasing moans. Koke seemed to repeat the movements that caused the loudest moans, and when he felt that Antoine’s cock was ready, he wrapped his lips around the tip, and glided down as much as he could. Trapping a good part of Antoine’s erection into his unbearably hot mouth. The high-pitched moan Antoine let out was one of the most beautiful things Koke had ever heard, and he continued sucking up on down Antoine’s shaft, sometimes playing with his tongue on the tip, some others even nibbling playfully on the over sensitive skin. 

Koke assumed that Antoine would be way too far gone to ask him to stop, so he decided to slow down, withdrawing completely the erection from his mouth. He caressed soothingly Antoine’s thighs, listening intently to his breathing pace. When he perceived he had calmed down a bit, he kissed the delicate skin on Antoine’s upper legs.

“How is it going?” Koke asked between kisses.

“It was close, I almost mess up.” Antoine acknowledged, still panting. “Come here, I need a break.”

Koke removed the scarf from his eyes and saw Antoine’s face completely flushed. The sweat on his body was shining, his lower lip was red from biting down on it, and his eyes looked brighter than ever. He untied Antoine’s hands carefully and checked the marks on them. Antoine had surely fought with that scarf.

As soon as Antoine could move his hands, he cupped Koke’s face and caressed his cheeks, playing with Koke’s stubble. He smiled still fighting with his accelerated breathing.

“I don’t think I can’t take this for too long. I think I could get off in any moment just by seeing you.” Koke confessed, he could feel his cock hardening again while he was pleasuring Antoine. The sounds he was making, the way his body danced, everything was attacking Koke’s senses and his tired body couldn’t take it anymore.

Antoine smiled sweetly, taking a quick glance below Koke’s waist, where his boner was demanding attention. 

“I see.” He muttered, looking back at Koke’s face. “Let’s not hold back!” He suggested, pulling Koke’s face closer until he was kissing his lips.

Koke let his weight fall on top of Antoine carefully, and continued the kiss, making it deep yet slow. One of his hands roamed over Antoine’s chest, tingling the soft skin. Koke loved how Antoine smiled into kisses, whenever he did something Antoine adored, he would always smile into the kiss, no matter how deep it was. It was like he couldn’t help it, his joy was way too strong.

Antoine’s hands caressed Koke’s broad back soothingly, reaching the small of his back and pressing his waist against his body, increasing the pressure on their groins. Koke let out a small moan and continued playing with his tongue inside Antoine’s mouth. Antoine felt like he was short of breath and pushed Koke’s face away from his for a second, panting heavily. Koke laughed softly and attacked hungrily Antoine’s neck instead. 

The dance of Koke’s lips over Antoine’s soft skin was relentless, sucking delicately on his pulse point. His stubble rubbed against Antoine’s jawline, his fingers held Antoine’s head in place firmly. From time to time he stopped to whisper some sweet words into Antoine’s ear faintly, almost trying to not pronounce them too loud so he could continue hearing Antoine’s accelerated breathing. From time to time he rolled his hips, making his boner rub against Antoine’s, causing his boyfriend’s body to shake uncontrollably.

“Do you like it?” Koke whispered waiting for an answer that would make him smile smugly. 

An answer that didn’t happen. Antoine had enough fighting with his breathing to try to pronounce any words. His hands grabbed Koke’s body desperately, almost digging his nails into his skin. He couldn’t move his hips due to Koke’s weight restricting him, so he tried to guide Koke’s hips with his hands, reaching his ass and cupping his cheeks shamelessly. 

Somehow Koke received and understood the message, and started to thrust his hips faster, his cock stimulating Antoine’s. Their lubricated erections rubbed and glided, increasing the pressure and the pain, but at the same time increasing the pleasure. They shivered feeling themselves closer and closer, Koke knew that Antoine would come before than him, so he decided to pay all his attention to Antoine’s hard-on. He lowered his body, planting kisses on Antoine’s torso on his way down, when he was reaching Antoine’s abs, Antoine grabbed him by his shoulder strongly. 

“No. Hug me!” Antoine pleaded in a whisper, squeezing Koke’s shoulder desperately.

Koke raised his eyebrows, he was surprised that in that moment Antoine preferred some cuddles over a blowjob, but he was happy to accept his orders. He cracked a wide smile and placed his hands on Antoine’s sides. Antoine mimicked the smile and arched his back, allowing Koke to wrap his arms around him, between his back and the silk sheets. Koke embraced Antoine’s frame tightly, their bodies completely glued together. Koke nuzzled his cheek and kissed the angle of his jaw.

“Why did you stop me?” He asked curiously. His face hanging right in front of Antoine’s. 

Antoine reached Koke’s nape with his fingers and pulled him closer, when their lips were only inches apart they attracted each other like magnets, sharing an intense kiss. Koke tightened his grasp around Antoine’s body if that was even possible, feeling his accelerated heartbeat on his chest. Their boners were restricted between their bodies, painful as ever, but they didn’t seem to care. Their lazy kisses had stolen the show. 

"Because I need this.” Antoine whispered between kisses, feeling protected by Koke’s body. “But you can carry on if you want.” He said raising an eyebrow, smiling mischievously at Koke. Koke looked back at him with a confused face. Antoine tapped playfully on his hips with his fingers.

“Oh.” Koke let out, causing Antoine to laugh out loud. “Stop laughing at me!” He said half-annoyed.

“Make me stop!” The defiant tone on Antoine’s voice was joined by a deep stare that made Koke shudder. 

Wordlessly Koke started rolling his hips frantically, immediately eliciting a raw groan from Antoine’s throat which indeed made him stop laughing. Antoine’s moans increased in pitch when Koke angled his hips and made the pressure on his punished cock grow. Koke’s moans were less loud but equally hot for Antoine, who was feeling himself really close. He tried to share some sloppy kisses with Koke, who still had enough of a mind to bite delicately on Antoine’s lower lip, dragging it away a bit. Whenever Koke did that, it drove Antoine crazy and he knew it. He was trying to stimulate all of Antoine’s senses to make him lose his mind.

“You’re so fucking hot Grizi, I feel like I’m going to come only by hearing your moans.” Koke encouraged him, knowing himself still far from his own orgasm. “Everyday I surprise myself loving you more and more. I didn’t know that was possible.”

Antoine flashed a proud smile in the middle of the short-circuit his brain was experimenting. His blue eyes examined Koke’s sincere face. Those brown eyes were speaking volumes, there were some pearls of sweat on Koke’s forehead, racing down his face, showing the big effort he was making. His boyfriend was still rolling his hips quite strongly, trying to make him come, and to say the truth, he was succeeding. Antoine felt an intense heat down his crotch, and his muscles started tensing up. He couldn’t tell Koke that he was coming because the load groans kept his throat busy. His hands reached Koke’s shoulder blades and he digged his nails there intensely. 

One of Koke’s hands abandoned his back and reached his cock, tugging on it quickly. Koke knew that Antoine was too far gone so he stopped with the kisses and just enjoyed the symphony of Antoine’s orgasm, played right in front of him. Every time Antoine moaned, the echo of his voice hit Koke’s face. If Antoine got to open his eyes for a second, Koke could admire the deep blue on them, adorned by some shy tears wanting to escape them. Antoine’s cheeks were flushed and sweat was pearling his forehead. 

Koke tightened the grasp around Antoine’s waist reassuringly and his other hand unchained chaos on Antoine’s body. The spasms hitting his whole body were joined by intense waves of pleasure, his cum was finally released in an electric impulse. Antoine thought he would faint in the spot. Koke helped him emptying his load with tender tugs on his way too sensitive cock. Every time Koke did that, Antoine’s whole body squirmed hard, almost breaking the embrace. Koke secured Antoine’s body position with his other arm not letting him go. 

Antoine had not opened his eyes yet, but there were some teardrops racing down the corner of his eyes. He tried to inhale fresh air but he felt the air burning his lungs, his whole body was on fire. He wanted to ask Koke to stop the stimulation because it was starting to bother him, but right when he was ready to pronounce a word or two, his whole body twitched as apparently the initial load was incomplete. A new stream of his cum was shot between their bodies, surprising Koke and himself. 

The unexpected second load had aroused Koke way too much. He felt his cock hardening even more at the thought of coming twice. He assumed that Antoine’s body would be destroyed at that point so he finally stopped the stimulation on Antoine’s now softening cock. He cleaned his sticky hand on Antoine’s new sheets, and then placed it over Antoine’s chest feeling his racing heart. Koke smiled and lowered his head to plant a kiss there. He then rolled to the side, setting Antoine’s body free, giving him the space he probably needed to breathe and calm down.

He admired Antoine propped on his elbow. He saw his chest moving up and down quickly, one of his hands placed on the pit of his stomach, the other one on top of his head, combing his hair back. As his breathing was slowing down he got to open his eyes, searching for Koke, he found him smiling back at him.

“Welcome back!” Koke joked.

“You can’t even imagine…” Antoine let out still panting.

Antoine checked Koke out from his head to his toes, and found his hand wrapped around his swollen cock. He knew how painful that would be for Koke, so even if there wasn’t too much energy left on his body, he got to sit up and reached out Koke for a sweet kiss. 

“Nevermind, you don’t need to imagine.” He whispered, travelling down to Koke’s cock, pushing his hand away, his mouth taking charge. He wrapped his lips around the tip and looked up to Koke who was admiring him with his mouth open. He introduced Koke’s boner on his mouth, and he noticed how impossibly hard it was, he knew it wouldn’t take him long. It was for the better, he thought, as he was feeling completely shattered. 

He sucked on the flesh intensely, savouring Koke’s taste. His tongue licked patterns on Koke’s shaft and his hand tugged on the boner making it almost unbearable for Koke, who had been reduced to a whimpering mess. Antoine sucked on the balls sonorously while his hand was taking care of the rest. 

“Come into my mouth!” Antoine ordered to a Koke who wasn’t probably listening to him anymore, he was fisting the sheets and thrusting his hips, despite Antoine’s efforts to maintain a steady pace.

Antoine increased the speed and the passionate kisses on Koke’s cock, feeling the pulsating veins on his tongue. ‘Fuck’ he muttered, introducing the whole length on his hot mouth. He felt Koke’s cum hitting the back of his throat and he coughed a bit at the unexpected sensation. Koke’s whole body was shaking and it was difficult to Antoine to keep his mouth in position being careful of not harming the sensitive skin with his teeth.

Koke’s raspy voice echoed loudly on the room, and Antoine kept on swallowing his load, humming at the taste, and licking his cock clean. Every time he licked a line on the shaft, Koke let out the loudest moan possible, squirming on the mattress. The licking lead to some tender kissing, Antoine’s lips playing on Koke’s crotch. He could hear Koke’s heavy breathing, he could see his goosebumps and even some spasms. He knew for a fact that Koke had never experienced an orgasm like this one. His mouth wouldn’t stop, making Koke even flinch at the excess of stimulation.

“Please.” Koke let out breathlessly. 

Antoine agreed that it was enough and went to join his exhausted boyfriend on the other side of the bed. He grabbed one of the soft sheets and placed it over their tired bodies, kissing Koke’s forehead and laying beside him, hugging his sweaty body. 

“So, did you like it?” Antoine asked caressing Koke’s chest. Koke looked into his eyes and raised an eyebrow. Antoine let out a muffled laugh. “Yeah, I know.”

“If we’re this intense on January first, what are we leaving for the rest of the year?” Koke asked curious. Feeling recovered from the effort.

“Well, I have a few ideas and plans for you and me.” Antoine said with a naughty grin. Biting his lower lip at the thoughts filling up his mind.

“I would pay a huge amount of money to read into that brain of yours.”

“You wouldn’t.” Antoine replied smugly.

“Why not?”

“Because you know that the mystery is way more exciting.”


	39. Chapter 39

The first match of the season had left different sensations on them. Koke had to be substituted because he wasn’t playing a great match, he felt heavy on the legs and Simeone saw it clearly, benching him as soon as he could. Antoine on the other hand scored two goals, he celebrated them with a huge joy explosion, kissing the tattoos on his arm, thanking that way his family support. 

The beginning of the year was really intense as they had to face Real Madrid the seventh of January, one day before Koke’s birthday. They also won that match and the sensations were better on Koke, who felt himself more secure and playing better. 

Beating their biggest rivals was always a reason to celebrate, but Koke’s family had planned for him a big Birthday dinner and a lunch the next day, separating him from Antoine in such a signaled night. 

“I’ll be back home after lunch tomorrow, it’s not like you’re not going to see me.” Koke explained to a disappointed Antoine. “My Mum wants me to sleep in their home and I can’t say no to her.” 

“I understand, it’s just that I had thought about celebrating the victory and your birthday with you tonight, my expectations were over the moon.” He replied in the empty locker room, not hiding the sadness in his words. 

“As soon as I finish the celebration with my family, I’m one hundred percent yours. I promise.” Koke hugged Antoine softly, kissing his neck. 

“You better do, I can’t wait to give you my present.” Antoine said enigmatically, leaving Koke wondering what could it be. 

“You are very good at teasing. Maybe that’s why I fell in love with you.” Koke joked breaking the hug. 

“It’s a part of my charm.” Antoine stole a brief kiss from Koke’s lips and left his boyfriend in the locker room. 

Not spending the night with Koke was a bummer, but he knew that it was for the better, he had so many things to prepare for his Birthday surprise.

 

Koke received Antoine’s text inviting him to his home, so as soon as he finished having lunch with his family, he drove his car to Antoine’s place. When he reached Antoine’s main door he noticed a small box on the doorstep. There weren’t any tags on the box but he assumed it was for him, so he opened it. A yellow card with Antoine’s handwriting on it welcomed him.

_‘Welcome to your Birthday surprise. From now on these yellow cards will lead your way. Follow them word by word and you won’t regret it. Use this box to open the door and enjoy!’_

Koke smiled at Antoine’s messy handwriting and his dedication. It was true that he had a privileged imagination. He shook the box to hear a metallic sound inside and found some keys at the bottom of the box. ‘You can keep them’ said a second yellow card under them. Koke smiled again, it was lovely from Antoine to trust him his house keys as he had done with him a few weeks earlier. Now both of them had complete access to their houses, showing the deep trust they had on each other. 

Once he entered Antoine’s house, he followed some rose petals that were on the ground. ‘Oh cheesy’ he said out loud, expecting Antoine to hear him wherever he was. The flower path ended on another small box. He opened it. 

 _‘Rules:_  
_1) This is the last box you open until new order._  
_2) You have to exercise your memory to reach the end. It’s then when you’ll get your Birthday present._  
_3) It’s unfair to do this all by yourself. Meet me in the place where I invited you to a drink for the first time.’_  

Koke furrowed his brows. He remembered when Antoine offered him that strange French liqueur but that wasn’t the first time. He tried to remember the first day he stepped into Antoine’s house when he was moving in. He wanted to have a drink and Antoine’s fridge was painfully empty. “The kitchen!” Koke muttered, blaming himself for being so slow in this kind of games. Antoine would laugh at him so much. 

He reached the kitchen door and there was a tie hanging from the handle. A yellow card hanging from it. 

 _‘Put this on, you look so sexy when you wear ties. When you have it on, knock the door three times’_  

He thanked that he was wearing an elegant shirt because otherwise he would have looked ridiculous with a tie on. When the knot was done he obeyed the card and knocked as it said. 

“Come on in!” Antoine’s voice resounded from inside. 

Koke opened the door to find Antoine sitting on the counter, wearing a black suit with a white shirt. Koke laughed as he discovered how he was completing his refined look with some white sneakers. Antoine jumped off the counter and grabbed two red wine cups he had just poured, offering one of them to Koke. As Koke grabbed the cup, Antoine was already using his free hand to hold his waist, closing the gap between them. 

“These have been some really long hours. Happy Birthday my love!” He whispered hitting softly his cup against Koke’s. 

“Thank you.” Koke replied before kissing Antoine slowly. “I see you’ve worked hard on this. I’m so impressed.” 

“I’d do everything for you. You know it.” Antoine said going for a second kiss, sweet and warm. 

“You even dressed up, I feel so blessed.” Koke pointed out taking a sip. 

“Don’t drink too much, I need you to focus on this.” Antoine advised, taking a card out of his jacket pocket. 

Koke laughed when he saw the yellow paper. He left his cup on the kitchen counter and opened it, reading it out loud. 

 _‘Now that we’re reunited we can continue our journey. If you remember that first drink I offered to you, go to its place of origin.’_  

He felt a bit ridiculous following orders from Antoine through some cards when he had him right in front of him, but he had decided he liked this kind of treasure hunt, and he would successfully get his Birthday present. He walked to the fridge and opened the door, finding one small red box inside with a white number one painted on it, a card placed on top of it.  
_‘From now on, you will leave these red boxes on the living room’s coffee table. You will need them later.’_

Antoine was looking at him from the distance, sipping nervously on his wine and expecting his plan to go well. Koke looked at him with an excited smile and ran towards the living room, Antoine following him behind. There was another yellow card on the coffee table. 

_‘The order of the boxes is important. Don’t forget it. Now go to the place where the best party ever finished.’_

“The best party ever?” Koke glanced at Antoine raising an eyebrow. “Someone here is smug as fuck.” 

Antoine smiled shyly, finishing his wine and shrugging his shoulders. Koke rolled his eyes laughing and walked to the garden, reaching the swimming pool area. As it was winter, Antoine had his pool covered by a sailcloth, waiting for the warm weather to come back. On top of the fabric there was a box with the number two, and a new card. 

 _‘We all remember that party, don’t we? I bet you will never forget it.’_  

At that point Koke blushed reading those words out loud, he looked at Antoine who was chewing his lower lip. They both knew that the swimming pool moment was a big one for them, as it was the first time Koke had felt attracted to Antoine, even if he tried to ignore that attraction back in the day. He carried on reading. 

 _‘Water is your element, we both know it. Go to your favourite place in this garden and grab the third box.’_  

Koke blushed again, remembering their hot tub sessions. The things that machine did to his body were wonderful and he couldn’t hide it. He found the box on the ground next to it, and read the next card. 

 _‘The next hint is hidden between the clothes of your favourite person on Earth.’_  

Koke snorted and looked at Antoine muttering a ‘come on!” Antoine smiled and walked inside as it was really cold outside, and Koke followed him, leaving the two boxes on the coffee table. 

“I don’t want to take your clothes off, you’re looking so fly.” Koke said, grabbing Antoine by the waist. 

“Nobody said you had to take them off… yet.” Antoine raised an eyebrow and Koke awarded him a deep kiss while roaming his hands over his body, searching for something out of the ordinary. He caressed his butt gaining a pleased moan by Antoine, his waist, his chest, he couldn’t find anything. When he was about to give up, he found something strange on the small of his back, he introduced his hand under Antoine’s shirt and grabbed a new card. He smiled pleased and read it out loud. 

 _‘I will never forget the first time you kissed me, I can still taste that kiss in my mouth. The next box is waiting for you in the place where you gave me that unforgettable kiss.’_  

Koke smiled and went to kiss Antoine again, who was smiling at his own cheesiness. He pushed Koke away playfully. 

“Remember that you have to obey the yellow cards.” Antoine reminded him, fixing his own clothes after Koke’s messed them up. 

Despite Koke’s complaining grunt, he obliged and went to Antoine’s room, where there was a box with the number four, a scarf, and the next yellow card. 

_‘You’re doing so well so far! Congratulations. How about we make things a little bit more difficult? Cover your eyes with the scarf, there’s another box hidden somewhere in this room. Good luck!’_

Antoine grabbed the scarf triumphantly and wiggled it in front of Koke, who rolled his eyes but accepted the challenge. When his vision was completely blinded he started patting the air, feeling completely insecure. Even if he knew Antoine’s room by heart, he found so tricky to try to find an item in there. 

“You need to help me or this is going to take me forever.” Koke said following the edge of Antoine’s bed with his hands. 

“I think it’s way funnier like this.” Antoine laughed admiring Koke’s poor attempts on finding himself. 

Koke threw himself on the mattress and started patting around him. Nothing. He searched under the pillows and removed all the cushions. Still nothing. He then rolled over and lying flat on his stomach reached the edge of the mattress and continued moving down, finding a box under the bed. Antoine opened his eyes wide and ran to the bed, landing on top of Koke’s back.

“Don’t!” Antoine warned grabbing Koke’s hands. 

“Ha! I found it!” Koke said fighting to set his hands free. 

“Seriously, don’t!” Antoine changed his tone, it became softer and more vulnerable. 

Koke ignored Antoine’s pleads and opened the lid of the box, introducing his hand inside, he reached a rubber object and took it out. He examined it with both his hands, it seemed familiar but he couldn’t guess what it was. Antoine pressed his forehead against his shoulder holding back the laughter. 

“What is this Grizi?” He shook the object and it didn’t make any sound. It was long and quite thick, and there was a button on one of the sides. He pressed it and the object started vibrating, giving away its use. “Oh my God!” Koke screamed dropping it quickly. He could still hear it vibrating in the distance. 

“I’m sorry, this is so embarrassing.” Antoine muttered burying his face on Koke’s nape. 

“Of course it is!” Koke shouted making Antoine feel bad for a moment. “Grizi…” His voice turned into a whisper. “I am not that big! If you’re used to that I’m going to be such a disappointment.” Koke let out worried. 

Antoine’s heart melted and took the scarf off from Koke’s eyes to look into his eyes. He rolled over the mattress and kneeled on the floor, in front of Koke’s face. 

“You are unique.” Antoine said between laughs, kissing Koke sweetly on the lips. “I already know how big you are and it’s the perfect size for me, thanks for your concern.” Antoine reached the blue dildo and switched it off, putting it into the box. “How about we forget about my toys?” He asked closing the lid. “Come on, you earned this!” He continued opening a drawer in the nightstand and taking off another box with another yellow card. 

Koke grinned, still a bit curious about the contents of Antoine’s secret box, and read the next card. 

 _‘My favourite fruit has your next hint.’_  

In a matter of a few seconds, both of them were in the kitchen right by the fruit basket. Seeing the card between all the bananas was a bit difficult but Koke got it. 

 _‘Feed me one of these and I’ll give you the next clue’_  

“I can’t believe how kinky you are.” Koke looked at Antoine who was licking his lips awaitingly. 

He took one of the bananas and peeled it off, offering the tip to Antoine, who wrapped his lips around it teasingly. He looked at Koke through his long eyelashes and a glint of naughtiness on his eyes. When Koke was paying all his attention to his face, he bit the tip delicately and swallowed it after chewing it for a few seconds. Then it was Koke who took a bite and with the piece of fruit still between his teeth, he offered it to Antoine, who received it happily. Antoine had played with Koke’s lips before reaching for the fruit, and once he had swallowed it, he kissed Koke passionately, licking the fruity taste out of his mouth. 

“We better stop this madness because I’m getting hard and we can’t distract ourselves now.” Antoine let out bluntly, causing Koke to laugh out loud. “You will find the next box in the place we started cuddling, and we still do.” He announced. Koke kissed him for a last time and walked to the living room. He moved the cushions on the sofa and found one of the small boxes in there, with the obvious yellow card. 

 _‘You’re almost done. I’m so proud of you for getting this far. Your last stop is in the big table in this same room. Good luck!’_  

Koke raised his eyes and saw the big table on Antoine’s living room covered by a sheet. He approached it, Antoine always following his steps, and when he was ready, he lifted up the sheet. In front of him he found a bunch of red boxes, around thirty he calculated. He picked up the last card. 

 _‘If you know me so well, you will find this one easy. There’s one box for each letter of the alphabet. Pick the letters I have tattooed in my arm. Those four boxes are your last ones. When you’re done, carry them to the coffee table and follow the instructions.’_  

“You are bossy even in card form!” Koke joked, picking the four boxes up. Of course he knew Antoine’s tattoos by heart. He couldn’t suppress a shudder when he picked up the box with the letter ‘I’ “I’ve always wondered, you told me the letters were your family and your ex-boyfriend, but how about Maud? Why didn’t she get a letter?” 

“Oh that’s because she didn’t want one, she found it too cheesy. I tattooed some stars on my wrist instead, she loves stars.” Antoine answered the question, helping Koke to carry the boxes to the coffee table. 

They sat on the sofa with the ten red boxes in front of them, placed in order in the coffee table. Koke looked at Antoine confused, waiting for more instructions. 

“Ok, you’re now really close to get your Birthday present, I hope you’re ready.” 

“More than ready!” Koke nodded and looked focused to the boxes. 

“Good. You can open them.”


	40. Chapter 40

The ten red boxes were carefully placed on the table, in the correct order. Koke looked at them furrowing his brows, wondering what had Antoine planned for him. He could feel Antoine’s nervousness; his boyfriend was sitting in the sofa next to him, wiggling his knee and biting his nails. What really gave away that Antoine was cautious, was that he was completely silent, he was waiting for Koke to discover his Birthday present not emitting a single sound, and that for Koke, felt completely strange. 

Koke grabbed the first box and with trembling fingers opened it, he peaked into it and found what seemed a few puzzle pieces. He emptied out the box contents on the table and noticed all of them were edge pieces. ‘The order of the boxes is important’ he remembered and it was starting to make sense. He carefully fit the pieces together and when he had finished, he looked at Antoine. 

“You don’t like things easy, huh?” 

Antoine smiled shyly, almost blushing. He didn’t say anything back, he just kept on staring at Koke, waiting for him to carry on. Koke shrugged his shoulders and continued opening the boxes one by one, completing more parts of the puzzle. 

What Koke could appreciate is that the puzzle was hand-made. The texture of the pieces wasn’t the same as the usual puzzle pieces, they were thinner and less uniform. Koke assumed that it had been Antoine himself who had created the puzzle and that made it extra special for him. 

He kept on fitting the pieces together, and when a good part of the picture was visible he quite understood why it was Antoine who had made it himself. Even though the central part of the picture was still missing, Koke recognized the picture. It was a photo they had taken a while ago. 

It was a sunny and warm afternoon and they were chilling in Koke’s garden, just one of those lazy afternoons in which you just want to rest. Antoine was playing with the settings of his phone camera and decided to test a vintage filter taking a selfie with Koke. He didn’t tell Koke he was taking a photo and Koke couldn’t resist kissing him. The sunlight was drawing Antoine’s features giving them a magic touch, his eyes were glowing, the inviting blue piercing Koke’s soul, and the beautiful smile adorning his lips were too many things for Koke to handle, so he gave Antoine a soft and calm kiss. Antoine took the photo anyway and they ended up having an unexpected romantic portrait. 

Both of them loved that photo, they had shared it with each other but both had decided to delete it from their phones to avoid any nosy eyes. In their laptops the precious photo was safe. Koke wanted to set it up as his wallpaper, but once again would be a bit of a risky move from him, so he withdrew the idea, and accepted to look at it from time to time. 

Koke smiled as soon as he recognized the photo and he dropped a few of the puzzle pieces on the table and turned to Antoine, reaching him for a sweet kiss. 

“I love it, thank you very much.” Koke whispered still touching Antoine’s lips. 

Antoine smiled back at him but Koke could have sworn that he was still nervous. Not relaxing completely into the kiss. Koke thought that maybe it was just his imagination tricking him, so he continued with the puzzle. 

After a while, only 6 or 7 pieces left from the central area of the puzzle, right the pieces that were showing their lips kissing. ‘What a tease’ Koke thought, reaching for the last box and opening it. To his surprise, that box was completely empty. He looked confused to Antoine. 

“Ok, what did I do wrong?” Koke asked showing the empty box to Antoine. 

“Maybe I just messed up with the boxes, the missing pieces are in a box for sure, probably one of those.” Antoine replied, pointing out to the boxes that were still placed in the big table behind them. 

Koke nodded and stood up, walking to the table. They were too many boxes to be opened one by one so he decided to hold them and shake them, until he could hear the pieces inside the box. Antoine smiled at his sudden laziness and observed him from the sofa. It took him a minute to find a box that finally had something into it. Just in case he shook the rest of the boxes to make sure that the remaining pieces weren’t split in two different boxes. 

When he saw that only one box had the remaining pieces, he came back to the sofa, opening the lid of the box and finding the last puzzle pieces. Koke smiled at his discovery and sat in front of the coffee table emptying the box and fitting the last pieces. The puzzle was finally complete. Koke ghosted his fingers over the surface, touching slightly the image, he wanted to frame it and stare to it forever. He went to hug Antoine tightly. 

“I love it so much Grizi, I can’t believe you did all of this to surprise me. You’ve been working really hard and I appreciate it so much.” 

“You know I’d do everything for you.” Antoine replied, melting in the security of Koke’s arms and kissing his neck tenderly. 

Koke placed his fingers on Antoine’s jaw and brought him closer, reaching his mouth with his hungry lips. He initiated a slow attack, biting on Antoine’s lower lip, drawing a soft moan from Antoine’s throat. He continued introducing his tongue on Antoine’s hot mouth, causing chaos. Antoine’s body trembled a bit and he placed his hands on Koke’s neck, caressing it softly with his fingers.

When they broke the kiss Koke kept on staring Antoine’s happy face, it was glowing as much as it did in the photo, smiling with every single pore of his skin. Koke loved how much Antoine blushed every time they kissed, it almost felt like the first time. When their lips touched it made Antoine behave shy and cute and that warmed Koke’s heart. 

“So did you like my Birthday gift?” Antoine asked caressing Koke’s chin. 

“I loved it.” Koke replied, catching Antoine’s hand and kissing it, provoking a wide smile on Antoine. “Even though you messed up a bit at the end.” He said jokingly. 

“Maybe it wasn’t an accident.” Antoine replied raising an eyebrow and feeling his heart beating faster. 

“What do you mean?” Koke asked changing the position of his body, sitting up. 

“I don’t know… you could check the mistaken boxes.” Antoine let out enigmatically, his voice shaking a bit. 

Koke grabbed the box that was empty since the very beginning and examined it. It was the one with the letter ‘I’ he raised an eyebrow and checked the box that was containing the missing puzzle pieces. He turned it over to find the letter ‘K’, his mouth dried a bit. 

“I’m not sure I understand Grizi.” 

“What did the yellow card say about these boxes with letters?” 

“They are the initials you have tatt…” Koke stopped mid-sentence and opened his eyes as much as he could, he reached Antoine’s arm and tried to roll up the sleeve unsuccessfully so he took off Antoine’s jacket and hurriedly he started unbuttoning his shirt. If he had stopped for a second, he could have felt Antoine’s heart racing furiously into his ribcage. 

Koke took off Antoine’s shirt throwing it up in the air and grabbed his wrist lifting his arm up. He examined carefully Antoine’s forearm until he reached the area under the elbow, and there in the place where Iñaki’s initial used to be, appeared proudly inked a letter ‘K’ in the pale skin. Koke caressed it with his fingers, trying to figure out if it was real. 

“Happy Birthday.” Antoine whispered with a trace of emotion painting his words. 

“Grizi…” Koke let out in the softest voice even imaginable, still caressing the tattoo with his thumb. He turned to look at Antoine, showing how some shy tears were starting to form on his hazelnut eyes. 

Even before Antoine could register it, Koke was hugging him almost crushing his bones, he buried his head on Antoine’s bare chest and Antoine kissed the top of his head. He caressed his back soothingly smelling the scent of his hair. An unmistakable wetness appeared between Koke’s face and Antoine’s chest. 

Koke wasn’t much of a crying person, and he didn’t like people to see him cry. When he felt he had calmed down a bit he left the security of Antoine’s chest and looked at him. His face was flushed and his eyes were red, Antoine brushed away the paths the tears had left down his cheeks, smiling at Koke’s emotional reaction. 

“I can’t believe you did that for me… You broke me!” Koke punched softly Antoine’s shoulder and hugged him again, this time pressing his nose against Antoine’s cheek. “I love you.” His breathing caressing Antoine’s face. “I love you so much.” He kissed sweetly Antoine’s cheek. 

“As you love to leave marks all over my body I decided to have your mark in a permanent way.” Antoine joked remembering all those love bites that decorated his skin after spending a while with Koke. 

“You know that’s not going to stop me, right?” Koke lowered his head and sucked softly on the skin over Antoine’s collarbone, leaving a faint mark. 

“You’re so silly!” Antoine blushed feeling happy for Koke’s reaction. 

“This is the biggest thing someone has ever done for me. It’s like a promise to be together forever.” Koke turned a bit serious, caressing Antoine’s elbow with his fingertips. 

“Well, that’s because I want to be with you forever. Koke, this was a really meditated idea, you’re now painting my skin and it’s going to stay there for the rest of my life.” 

It wasn’t often that Antoine called him ‘Koke’ but whenever he did, it was because he was speaking really seriously. Koke nodded and swallowed the lump that has formed at the back of his throat. 

“Thank you for making this Birthday the best ever.” Koke pecked his lips briefly. 

“You deserve that and more.” Antoine said laying on the sofa, pulling Koke’s hand to accompany him. 

“So you never burnt yourself with that oven.” Koke laid beside him, caressing his chest with his fingers. Antoine negated with his head with a cheeky smile. “I’m scared because you’re too good at lying.” 

Antoine sniggered and kissed his chin, his stubble felt itchy on his sensitive lips. 

“This was not lying, this was… hiding information.” He replied raising an eyebrow. 

“Now I understand why you’ve started kissing your tattoos after scoring. I can’t believe you’re so cheesy.”

“My cheesiness made you cry.” Antoine let out in a teasy voice. 

“How about we forget that happened?” Koke asked embarrassed.

“Never! It was the cutest thing ever, I’m never forgetting that. Also, did you know that whenever you show yourself vulnerable I find it really really hot?” Antoine nibbled on Koke’s jaw. 

“And when don’t you find something hot?” Koke joked lowering his hand until he reached the small of his back, pushing him closer. 

Antoine laughed spreading some kisses on Koke’s neck, Koke lowered his hand even more, cupping his ass cheeks.

“Don’t get too enthusiastic yet, I have a reservation in a fancy restaurant for dinner.” Antoine warned pushing Koke away. 

Koke complained but he knew that after dinner they had all the time in the world. Antoine got up searching his shirt, Koke found it and offered himself to dress Antoine up. He introduced one of his arms through one sleeve, and when he reached the tattooed arm he focused on the spot under Antoine’s elbow, planting a soft kiss in his initial, before introducing his arm through the other sleeve. Antoine smiled and Koke buttoned his shirt up carefully. 

When they were ready they left through the main door with one thought resounding on Koke’s mind: he had two months to think about a Birthday gift for Antoine as special as his had been and it seemed like an impossible mission to him. 

Antoine flashed a delightful smile at him as he offered him to close the door behind them with his own keys. Koke nodded and closed the door, grabbing the keys firmly on his palm, almost squeezing them. He looked again at Antoine’s face and he thought that he deserved everything.

_Mission on._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just letting you know that I'm having a lot of time/inspiration issues at the moment and I'm writing at a really slow pace, so maybe I have to write shorter chapters in order to keep the fic updated weekly, or maybe I have to update less often. I prefer the shorter chapters options but I will hear your opinion on this.


	41. Chapter 41

Pre-match days were always boring, especially when they were locked in a hotel room with a lot of hours to kill. Antoine didn’t really understand why the whole team had to reunite in a hotel before a home match, but it was one of those Simeone things and he had learnt to live with that. 

Those pre-match nights weren’t too different to the rest, he would sneak into Koke’s bed as soon as the lights were off, and they would cuddle until they fell asleep. They respected their promise to their coach, and the cuddling and kissing never led to bigger things. 

This was one of those nights, a few teammates were playing videogames in their room, and they shot glances to each other trying to communicate only with their eyes. ‘I can’t wait for us to be alone’ Koke would think, hoping for Antoine to get his message. Antoine would smile and roll his eyes. Message received. 

After a particularly bad day of Saul playing a football videogame, he and the rest left their room quite earlier than usual. When Saul lost he started being moody and nobody wanted to deal with that. The result was everybody running away from him as soon as possible, leaving him time and space to digest his anger. People in the locker room always reminded him of that and he would behave like a kid, everybody loved the banter. 

As soon as everybody left their room, Koke checked the clock. It was still early to sleep, and there was something bugging him. 

“Grizi, can we talk?” The hesitation in his words made Antoine raise an eyebrow. He nodded and sat in his own bed, facing Koke who was sitting in his. 

“Is there something wrong?” Antoine asked concerned. 

“No… I just wanted you to tell me about something.” Koke furrowed his brows. 

“Sure!” Antoine replied getting up from his bed and sitting next to Koke, placing his hand on his knee. “What do you want to know? 

“It’s that you’ve never told me about how you found out that you were gay and I’m quite curious about it.” He felt a bit silly mentioning it out loud. He had always wanted to ask Antoine but sometimes he thought that it was none of his business, some others he thought that it just wasn’t the correct time to do it. He was afraid of being too nosy or bothering Antoine, so he had never actually done it. He also thought that it maybe was a pointless question because perhaps Antoine had known forever. He knew there was no point on feeling like that because there were no secrets between them, but sometimes he just felt a bit insecure. 

“Oh, do you really want to know?” Antoine asked half-surprised with a smile painted on his lips. He had always wanted to talk about it with Koke, but he didn’t know if Koke wanted, or even was ready to hear about everything. Maybe this was the perfect moment to do it. 

Koke nodded lying on the bed and inviting Antoine to do the same, facing him. When they were mirroring each other, Koke held Antoine’s hand and intertwined their fingers. 

“Yeah, I want to know if you always knew. Or if you fell in love with someone and that’s how you found it out, like it happened to me…” Koke’s words made Antoine smile briefly. “How old you were, if you told someone about it…” 

“Ok, well, the truth is that it’s not like ‘I always knew’ but somehow it was a very natural process for me. Mind you, I didn’t care about girls during school like other kids did, when I started high school and everybody was quite obsessed with the thing about having girlfriends I was having none of it, but it was soon when I moved to train with Real Sociedad, so I really never felt that peer pressure.” Antoine started explaining, playing with Koke’s hands. “I only cared about football at that time, I cared about improving my style because nobody wanted me because I was too small. I tried to focus on big stars of the sport, to see what I could learn from them. Especially from Beckham, he was such an idol for me. I tried to watch all his matches, I read about him a lot, and I even tried to convince my Dad to go to a match between France and England with the excuse of seeing our National Team, but I actually only cared about David.” 

Koke listened intently Antoine’s story, nodding in silence. He didn’t want to interrupt his flashback. 

“But if you are wondering if David was some kind of platonic love, I don’t think he was. I usually imagined myself playing next to him, or maybe against him. The idea of sharing a pitch with him made my heart beat faster, but I think it was just plain admiration.” 

“I understand.” Koke replied. “So he was kind of a role model for you? Not a crush?” 

“Exactly.” 

“Then why are you mentioning him in this story?” Koke asked raising an eyebrow. 

“Because I think it’s quite relevant how meanwhile my classmates only had girls in their minds, I only had football players in general and Beckham in particular. And I later suspected that it was my own way to cope with the fact that I was different to the other kids; really focusing on something to avoid conversations that felt quite uncomfortable to me. Believe me, I missed a lot of stupid dates or awkward parties thanks to having to go to football training.” Antoine explained sighing relieved. 

“So we could say that football really helped you to protect yourself?” 

“Pretty much.” 

“Ok, so what happened next?” Koke was feeling a bit impatient, he really wanted to hear more about Antoine’s life but didn’t want to sound too pushy. 

“Well, you know that when I was thirteen I started in Real Sociedad’s academy. I was living with Eric, who was my manager back then and a kind of second father to me. My life was a bit stressful for a young boy because even though I trained everyday in Spain, I lived and studied in France, so we had to travel a bunch of kilometers every afternoon. I went to high school in the mornings, trained in the afternoons, did my homework in the car, and I didn’t have too much time to hang out with people, anyway I didn’t have too many chances, I was too shy for the high school people, and too French for my teammates.” 

“Too French?” Koke laughed at Antoine’s remark. 

“My Spanish was so limited back then and my high school didn’t offer Spanish lessons so I tried my best which obviously wasn’t enough. After three months training with the team, and not understanding a word of the things my coach asked me, they got me a Spanish teacher and I took lessons after training everyday.” Antoine explained, still caressing Koke’s arm absent-minded. 

“You are right, that was quite a stressful life for a thirteen years old.” Koke agreed, enjoying the tingles in his arm. 

“Well, let me tell you that things only got worse.” Koke gasped at Antoine’s words and Antoine laughed at his reaction, as if he didn’t know that everything had a happy ending. “We’re going to assume how much I missed my family, my friends and my old life; and let’s focus on how terrible my grades were, because I’ve never been a brilliant student, but I also didn’t have too much time to study as I was getting better and better at football and my training hours increased exponentially. The High School called my family and they wanted me to come back as I was being a disaster. I pleaded Eric to convince them to let me stay for a little bit longer because I knew I was improving a lot and if I came back home, everything would go to waste. I was still small, the French teams wouldn’t want me anyway.” 

“And I guess he succeeded?” Koke said, inching closer to Antoine, feeling his warmth. 

“More or less. I mean, my family let me stay if I improved my grades, and I did my best… until I was fifteen.”

“What happened?” 

“My Real Sociedad coach asked me to stay in the academy during the week because he was seeing the progress in me, that meant sleeping with a good part of my teammates, living with them and even though I still studied in the academy I couldn’t take the exams because of my lack of time, so I ended up abandoning my studies with my parents permission.” Antoine flashed a shy smile. “And then the inevitable happened.” 

Koke rolled his eyes a bit, he knew Antoine was building up the anticipation in him and now he was reaching the key part of the story. He nodded and let him continue. 

“There was a cute boy in the team who was always very nice to me, most of the other kids didn’t bother too much in helping me understand things, but he always explained everything slowly to help me. My Spanish was way better back then, but I still missed a lot of things when people spoke fast, and damn, you Spaniards talk way too fast!” Antoine complained pushing Koke’s shoulder. Koke giggled and kissed him on the cheek. 

“But look at you now! You’re almost a Speedy Spaniard!” Koke joked. 

“The thing is that what I thought it was a beautiful friendship turned into something deeper. I always wanted to be with him, I wanted him to notice me, whenever we played together I felt happier, I had the need to score goals because it was the only way to get him to hug me, I was jealous when he paid attention to others… I was starting to fall for him and I didn’t have the ability to understand it all.”

“Did you ever tell him?” Koke asked feeling very reflected on teenager Antoine. 

“Never.” Antoine confessed with a trace of sadness in his voice. “It took me months to figure out what was happening, and by the time I knew I had fallen for him, his family moved to the South of the country and I never saw him again. I cried for weeks.” 

Koke didn’t really know what to say so he hugged Antoine tightly, trying to comfort him. He tried to imagine how heartbreaking that was but he had never felt something like that before. 

“Grizi, if this is opening old wounds we can stop…” Koke whispered into Antoine’s ear. 

“No, I’m ok.” Antoine replied breaking the hug. “I got over it a long time ago, but I still feel a bit sad that it ended so abruptly. Above all he was my best friend, and then he was gone and I was suddenly feeling terribly lonely. Of course I had bonded with the other guys, but it wasn’t the same.” 

“So how was discovering that you liked men?” 

“As I told you earlier, it was a bit of a natural thing for me, it wasn’t a surprise or anything like that. The process took me months not because I was questioning that I was falling for a man, that was actually the easiest part of it all, the main problem was that I was trying to figure out if it was just a very close friendship or something stronger. I knew for a fact that I loved him, but I had never fallen in love with anybody before, so I didn’t really know what kind of love I was experiencing.” 

Koke nodded, he knew that feel very well. Antoine had been his first one and he had gone through the same doubts at the beginning of their relationship.

“It was a sad experience but it actually opened my eyes. At that point I finally knew I was gay, and even though the only thing in my mind was football, it was very nice to know myself better. Also that was the time when the hormones were starting to play up, and everybody in the team was obsessed about getting girlfriends, so it was refreshing knowing where to focus my energies.” Antoine laughed.

“I guess nobody knew about you, right?” Koke asked, tracing patterns on Antoine’s chest with his index finger. 

“Of course not. If you need understanding, you don’t need a bunch of testosterone-filled teenagers. I assumed they would be pretty immature to understand so I didn’t tell anybody.” Antoine shrugged his shoulders. 

“Gosh, that must be so hard. Being that young, and keeping it to yourself. When did you family know?” 

“The summer after he left I came back home and I couldn’t hide my sadness. They knew he was my best friend, so they quickly got why I was so down, but I needed to let it out of my chest so I told Maud who helped me a lot to understand my feelings. She already had a boyfriend, so she described to me the things she felt for him, and I noticed that those things were the same I felt for him. She advised me to tell my parents, or at least my Mum, as she would know how to make me feel better.” 

“And did you tell her?” Koke asked curious. 

“I did not at that time. Even though I knew I had fallen in love with that boy, I didn’t know if that would happen again anytime soon, and I wasn’t ready to talk to my parents about it, so I waited until it happened again, to be able to articulate it better. You know? I was afraid of telling them, and getting a ‘that’s just a crush’ or a ‘you are confused’ in reply, so maybe waiting a bit more was worth it.” 

“And was it?” 

“Definitely. But it took me almost two years. I was almost eighteen and I thought I was ready to tell my parents, I knew they would listen as I was almost an adult, and I tried to tell them in the most natural way I could. I told them that I had a ‘special friend’ in San Sebastian, and I described him to them, I told them that we used to go to the movies together, that he used to come to all my matches, and that I was very happy to his side.” A nostalgic smile appeared on Antoine’s lips. He was so proud of himself for that specific moment when he came out to his parents. 

“Did they understand right away?” Koke asked anxiously. 

“My Mum seemed to do it pretty quickly. My Dad tried to play the ‘you’re confused’ card, but I explained to him that it was actually the second time I had fallen for a man and that I didn’t believe in coincidences. I told him that I understood if he needed time to accept it, but that my sexuality was something that wouldn’t change with time.” Antoine placed a hand on his temple. “I remember the exact sentence I used. I said ‘Dad, I know this is something that can be surprising for you so take all the time you need, but this is me and that’s not going to change’ at that point my Mum hugged me and my dad nodded all serious. The next time I saw them months later he was as usual with me, I guess time, and my Mum, helped with that.” 

“I’m glad it went well.” Koke smiled kindly. 

“They were actually very helpful. I left for my Mum the task to tell the other family members, because I knew she would do a good job with it. So she told Theo, and my aunts, uncles… I’m still wondering how she told my Grandmother because you know, that’s a completely different generation, but she seemed delighted to hear that I was happy.”

“Well, that was a very interesting story Grizi, thanks for sharing it with me.” Koke said checking his clock, it was way past their bedtime. “We should sleep a bit.”

“Agreed.” Antoine nodded burying his face on Koke’s chest. “Good night love.” He said kissing him through his T-shirt. 

“Good night.” Koke replied kissing the top of Antoine’s head. He switched off the lamp and covered their bodies with a blanket. He hugged Antoine warmly. 

Antoine didn’t know it, but something had changed in Koke after their talk. He had seen some light after listening to Antoine. His experience had helped him and he finally knew how to do it. They would understand. He was ready.


	42. Chapter 42

Coming out to his parents was something that had been on Koke’s head for quite a long time. As soon as he started his relationship with Antoine he felt the need to tell them, after all, he always trusted them everything, but this was something different. 

Koke felt saddened by the fact that he thought that maybe they wouldn’t react as he wanted. That glint of doubt was killing him inside. He knew his parents were humble people with great hearts, but they had commented so many times on how much they wanted Koke to get a girlfriend, and how lovely it’d be to have grandchildren, that Koke felt that coming out would be a bit disappointing for them.

He thought that being in love with another man didn’t make a big difference. It didn’t matter if he was happy with a woman or with a man, and they could always adopt children if they wanted. But he thought his parents wouldn’t see it under the same perspective. They were a bit old-fashioned and the fact that heterosexuality was the only thing present in their family made things more difficult for him. Having a non-heterosexual person in the family would have been such a big support for him and a reference for his parents. But this time he was alone, and he had to do everything by himself.

His parents had invited him to have lunch with them without any special reason, they just loved to spend some time with their son whenever his schedule allowed him. They missed him and they still thought that Koke was too young to live on his own, his older brother was still living with them, but they also understood the privacy and discretion Koke needed.

When Koke sat in front of his parents he knew that it was the moment to tell them his secret, maybe before dessert, when the stomachs were full and happy, and Borja would help him with it, that would make things easier. 

“Where’s Borja?” Koke asked, looking at his brother’s empty chair.

“Oh, he had a meeting at work.” His Father answered serving some water. 

Koke felt his knees shaking a bit, he knew Borja’s support was quite important in such a crucial moment, but he could do it by himself. He had rehearsed the conversation a million times in his head, he was ready. 

 

Antoine was blaming himself for his poor planning abilities. He had known for a few days that Koke was going to have lunch with his family, but he had failed to arrange something for himself. He had a lot of friends to meet and he never found time, and when he finally had time, he had forgotten.

He had always been an independent person, but since his relationship with Koke started, he hated being by himself. He missed him way too much when they weren’t together, so he always tried to have plans or things to do for those moments. Such a behavior was surprising to himself, he had never felt the need to be with someone the whole time, and with Koke, he almost spent a hundred percent of his time with him and it didn’t seem enough. He wondered if it was the same for Koke.

He tried to distract himself playing videogames, but it was less funny without beating someone. ‘I could call Saul’ he thought, then he could make fun of him every time he won, which would be always, and that way spend his afternoon in a fun way. He nodded, it was a good idea.

He was unlocking his phone when the doorbell rang. He stood up all excited and checked his clock. “How early!” he muttered, and ran to the door to receive his boyfriend. 

“I wasn’t expecting you!” He said opening the door with a huge smile.

“I suppose.”

Antoine blinked a few times and shook his head.

“Iñaki, what are you doing here?”

“I needed a friend and thought of you. I need to talk.”

His defeated body language gave away that he wasn’t lying. His head was low, his eyes were underlined with some noticeable bags, and his face looked paler and thinner than usual. Antoine was concerned.

“Come on in!”

 

After a while taking about the normal family topics, Koke cleared his throat, interrupting the conversation between his parents. 

“I have something to tell you.”

His mysterious ways made his parents pay attention. They looked intently at him and Koke felt the nervousness growing in him. His palms were sweating, and his heart was beating faster.

“Is it bad news, sweetheart?” His Mother asked reaching his hand warmly. Koke let out a half smile.

“Don’t worry, it’s nothing bad.” He could almost hear his Mother sighing out loud. “It’s just something I feel it’s important…”

“Go ahead!” His Father encouraged him impatiently.

Koke licked his lips and looked down at his plate, then he raised his head and looked at his parents’ awaiting faces, then down to his plate again. He wiggled his knee incessantly.

“It’s just that I… I’m…” He looked at them again and he quickly glanced at Borja’s empty spot. He suddenly felt a big abyss under his feet. What if their reaction wasn’t good? He had not prepared himself mentally for that. He trusted his family enough to react well, but what would happen if it was the opposite reaction? He analyzed the situation in a quarter of a second and decided that if he was feeling that insecure, it just wasn’t the appropriate moment to tell them. He changed his initial plan. “I’m thinking about getting another cat.”

His Father winked once, twice, in silence, he opened his mouth and didn’t emit a sound. He raised an eyebrow and finally said. “Is that it?” His Mother sniggered.

“Is it just that Romeo needs a friend. I spent a lot of time travelling and…”

“Honey, it’s your house, you can get as many cats as you want, but think that when you go on holidays it’s us taking care of them, so don’t go crazy with that.”

“Yeah, that’s why I’m telling you, I want your opinion…”

“Get a dog.” His Father stood up and walked to the balcony. Koke rolled his eyes, he always forgot how much of a dog person his Dad was.

“Are you going to smoke?” Koke’s Mum asked him in a scolding tone.

“Just one cigarette!” Koke’s Father answered, closing the balcony crystal door behind him, he knew his wife despised tobacco and the smell of it, so he did what he could to not disturb her with it.

Koke’s Mum rolled her eyes. “This man!” She exclaimed. She turned to Koke and lowered her tone. “You’re not getting a new cat, right? You can maybe trick your Dad, but I can see further than that, cats aren’t a difficult topic for you, and whatever you want to tell us, it’s making your head hurt.”

Koke let his mouth hang open at his Mum’s interpretation of the situation, he always thought that she was good at reading body language, but this was exceeding his expectations. 

“I am not getting a new cat.” Koke confirmed.

“Honey, you know you can trust us everything…” His Mother carried on, trying to cheer him up.

“I know, and I swear it’s not bad news. It’s just something a bit complicated for me to talk about and I need to feel completely ready when I tell you.” 

“I understand… there’s only one topic you never talk about so I’m placing my bets on it, but I won’t say anything until you’re ready to do it.” She pointed out. 

“Thanks Mum, I love you.” Koke smiled warmly. He loved how wise and respectful his Mum was. She had guessed that whatever was bothering Koke it had to do with his love life, but she wouldn’t say it out loud to not make him feel uncomfortable. He was so thankful to have her.

 

Antoine had been listening for the last half an hour Iñaki’s story. He had broken up with his boyfriend after a long period of arguments. They saw each other less and less, whenever they spoke on the phone there was always reproaches flying from both sides. Iñaki felt heartbroken and Antoine couldn’t help being sad for his friend. He knew well the feeling.

“Maybe it’s better this way. Maybe you weren’t destined to be together.” Antoine tried to reason. He considered himself pretty bad at consoling people but it was worth a try.

“I feel so empty, so lonely. I thought he was the one!” His friend reacted, some tears falling from his eyes. “Why didn’t it work out if we love each other?”

“Maybe it works out in the future, maybe you two just need time and space. If you still feel the same in a few months, you could try again.” Antoine patted Iñaki’s shoulder, and his friend raised his head to find his beaming smile trying to comfort him.

“Are you trying to tell me something?” Iñaki asked brushing his tears away.

“What I just said, maybe it’s a matter of time.”

Iñaki opened his eyes wide and started closing the gap between them, as soon as Antoine was noticing the move, he was shying away.

“What are you doing?” He exclaimed quite annoyed.

“Oh come on, babe, you just talked about giving someone an opportunity after some time. I know you still miss me.” Iñaki reached Antoine’s cheek to find him flinching at the touch. “We had amazing sex some months ago, we could have more now, you’ve not forgotten me.” His hand glided down to Antoine’s chin and he tried to kiss Antoine for a second time, but he failed again. Antoine stood up in a swift movement, walking away from him.

“You don’t understand a thing! I moved on a long time ago. What do you think? That you can wander through my life at your own will? That I’m going to allow you to play with my feelings? Not again…” Antoine folded his arms across his chest. 

“Hmmm you are so hot when you’re angry.” Iñaki looked at Antoine while biting his lower lip.

“What the hell! Stop it right now!” Antoine shouted. “I thought you were my friend but you're behaving like a prick. I’m so glad our thing ended!”

“Oh come on!” Iñaki seemed to grasp that Antoine was in fact, not joking at all, and stood up changing his attitude a bit. “Babe, the last time we saw each other there was fire. It felt so good, and that was not very long ago, you can’t possibly move on that far.” His tone was softer and sweeter, he knew that Antoine was very mad at him.

“I had moved on long before that, but what can I say? You offered me easy sex and I really needed it. I was free and took the chance, that’s all.” Antoine explained himself keeping a safe distance from Iñaki. “Also I would thank if you stopped calling me ‘babe’, I don’t like it.”

“Wait a second... 'Was'? Does that mean that you’re not free anymore?” Iñaki understood now Antoine’s reaction. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I’m very cautious with my private life, you know it.” 

“Wow, I thought we were friends.” 

“Don’t play dirty tricks with me, don’t try to make me feel guilty for not telling you when you’ve been using me during all this time. You only come to me when you want sex, you never want to ‘just talk’, you never want to have a coffee. You already cheated on your boyfriend with me, so I think you should watch your behaviour before you judge anyone else.” Antoine felt his blood boiling, he didn’t want to hurt Iñaki, but he needed to let his anger out his chest.

Iñaki swallowed hard, he knew Antoine was right. He had behaved in a really poor way since they finished their relationship, and he appreciated Antoine enough to not turn their friendship into a toxic one.

“Ok, I get it. I guess you’re happy now.” Iñaki walked slowly to Antoine.

“Happier than ever.” Antoine knew his words would cause an impact on Iñaki but he didn’t mean that he wasn’t happy during the days with Iñaki, he was just happier now.

“So you don’t have any remaining feelings for me?” Iñaki was now only two steps away from Antoine, he grabbed his hands. Antoine tensed up but allowed him.

“Only friendship ones.” Antoine replied softly.

“Are you sure?” Iñaki lifted Antoine’s right arm and Antoine closed his eyes, he knew what it was happening, and he didn’t want it to happen. 

Iñaki’s smug smile quickly disappeared as soon as he saw how the “I” on Antoine’s arm was gone. A “K” was now taking its place. Antoine wasn’t lying, he had moved on.

“Oh!” He let out in a disappointed sigh. “I see.”

Antoine didn’t want to show the tattoo to him, he knew that it would break his heart. Iñaki was terribly proud of that tattoo since the very first moment, and he always caressed it when they were together. But he didn’t belong there anymore, and whenever Antoine saw the tattoo, the memories were more bitter than sweet.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t want you to…” Antoine muttered.

“It’s Ok. I don’t know what I was expecting. You’ve got a new boyfriend and it’s obvious you wouldn’t keep that for longer.” The obvious sadness was painted on his face, he couldn’t hide it. Antoine was a lost cause. “Hope that “K” man can do what I couldn’t. To be the perfect person for you.”

Antoine almost pointed out that Iñaki was, indeed, the perfect person for him until he discovered he had found someone he liked more than Antoine, but he decided that his friend was more than defeated and there was no point in making him feel worse.

“I hope so.” Antoine replied politely, untangling his hands from lñaki’s.

Iñaki shook his head. “I should go now. Thanks for listening to me.”

Antoine flashed a weak smile and waved his ex-boyfriend goodbye, having a gut feeling that it would be a long time since he got to see him again. Iñaki had realized that his time with Antoine was a thing of the past, and surprisingly Antoine, who seemed to be the most affected of the two after their breakup, was the one who was really focusing on the present and the future, rather than on the past.

As soon as Iñaki had left he texted Koke, he felt uneasy and really needed a bit of support.

‘I need you’

Koke replied with some smiley faces and promised to see him as soon as he was done in his parents’ house. Antoine smiled and prepared a bit of food for himself. After having lunch he lay on the sofa, channel hopping until he found some animal documentary that would do the trick for him. After a few minutes, his tiredness had won the battle and he fell asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was going to post this as two separate chapters but I've been written a bit lately and I have 2 chapters more in store, so I don't need to cut chapters short yet. Thanks for all your support messages, they mean the world to me!


	43. Chapter 43

Koke opened the main door with his keys, he still couldn’t believe that he had such an open access to Antoine’s house, and he loved it. As soon as he stepped inside he noticed how silent the house was. He walked into the living room where he discovered Antoine sleeping peacefully curled into a ball.

He was in a fetal position with a fluffy blanket wrapped around his body. His soft features graced his face, his eyelashes were fluttering and his mouth was half open. Koke smiled and kneeled in front of him, brushing his bleached hair off his face. Antoine purred but didn’t move and continued his quiet nap. Koke grinned and kissed his forehead, but when he saw that Antoine was having one of those deep-sleep moments, he decided to change into some more comfortable clothes. After all, Antoine’s clothes felt like a second skin to him.

Sometimes Antoine complained about him stretching the back of his T-shirts, but then Koke would tell him that he looked really cute on baggy shirts, and Antoine would blush and concede. Koke picked a black shirt he knew Antoine loved on him, and a pair of comfortable shorts. Then he came back to the living room, to admire the beauty of his sleeping boyfriend.

He sat on the floor in front of the sofa, with his head at the same level as Antoine’s face, caressing his arm over the soft fabric of the red blanket embracing his body.

“Gosh, you’re so perfect.” Koke whispered. “I still can’t believe how lucky I am.” The only answer he received from Antoine was his calm breathing pace. “It’s funny how I’m still so nervous when I’m around you, like right now my hands are trembling and my heart is pounding, and you’re not even awake. The things you do to me…”

Koke repositioned himself, resting his chin on the sofa seat edge, a few inches away from Antoine’s face.

“The best thing about you is that, even if you’re stunning on the outside, you’re even more beautiful inside.” His index finger traced Antoine’s jawline slowly. “And it’s me the one who gets to enjoy it. I’m so privileged.”

A faint smile appeared on Antoine’s dry lips and Koke attacked them in a very soft kiss. He could feel Antoine chuckling in the middle of the kiss.

“Since when you’re awake?” Koke asked breaking the kiss. Antoine opened his sleepy eyes a bit, the piercing blue peeking out between his tired eyelids.

“Since you kissed my forehead.” Antoine grinned and lifted the blanket, inviting Koke inside. Koke obliged. “But I wanted to hear more of that.”

“I should have imagined…” Koke muttered rolling his eyes. He hugged Antoine warmly, feeling how Antoine’s body vibrated happily.

“Carry on. I love to hear you saying cute things.” Antoine let out in a lazy stream of voice, not fully awake.

“I get all shy if you are listening.” Koke teased pressing his lips on Antoine’s pulse point.

“Fine, I get it. How was the lunch with your parents?” Antoine asked introducing his hands under Koke’s shirt and caressing slowly his back.

“It went well, you know, nothing special. How about you? What have you been doing?” Koke asked back facing Antoine.

“Iñaki was here.” Antoine let out bluntly.

“What?” Koke said surprised. “What did he want?”

“A second chance, I guess.” Antoine shrugged his shoulders. He could see Koke furrowing his brows. “He told me he and his boyfriend had broken up. He offered me sex... It was weird.”

“Are you ok? Was it violent?” Koke was feeling a mixture of shock and anger, but he had enough of a mind to ask Antoine if he was fine.

“A tiny bit, I had to ask him to leave me alone but fortunately he understood it quickly… As soon as I told him that I was dating someone who was making me very happy.”

Koke smiled briefly, but he couldn’t stop thinking about how much of a delicate situation that was. Antoine was all by himself, it could have been dangerous.

“I’m glad nothing bad happened, I’m sorry you had to go through it alone. What a timing that guy has!”

Antoine smiled and snuggled next to Koke. Breathing peacefully and feeling protected.

“Yeah, it’s a shame he couldn’t see me being this happy, he had to just believe my words.” Antoine joked.

“I hate the fact that he thinks that you are always available for him. Never for a second he thought that you could have a new relationship? How selfish!” Koke finally reacted letting his anger flow. “You have feelings! He didn’t even think that he could be hurting you!”

Antoine pecked Koke softly on the lips and caressed his cheek trying to calm him down. He liked when Koke cared that much, when he tried to be so protective of him that he was almost angry.

“It’s ok, he can’t hurt me because I don’t care about him anymore. And only the people I care about can hurt me. So don’t worry that much and give me some love.” He said cheekily.

Koke reacted reaching the small of his back, pressing their bodies together. He slid his hand down Antoine’s ass, rubbing it softly.

“How much love do you want?” Koke asked nibbling Antoine’s lower lip.

“All of it.” Antoine replied playfully in a purr.

Koke laughed and rolled his eyes. He swallowed hard.

“I have some questions though.” Koke asked looking at Antoine through his long eyelashes.

“Which kind of questions?” Antoine replied rubbing his arm.

“You know…” Koke avoided the eye contact with Antoine’s face.

“I won’t know if you don’t tell me.” Antoine was sure of having obtained a PhD in patience just in the months he had been with Koke.

“It’s embarrassing because I’m sure they’re silly questions and I don’t want you to laugh at me.” Koke said shyly, drawing circles with his index finger on Antoine’s chest.

“Since when you care about me laughing at you. I’m always laughing at you!” Antoine grinned and Koke poked his finger between his ribs. “Ow, that hurts!”

“Grizi please...” Koke said with a stern face.

“Ok, go ahead.” There was something on Antoine’s voice that gave away that he was starting to lose a tiny bit of his patience.

“Well… it’s about sex.” Koke let out in almost an inaudible whisper. Antoine was lucky of being so close to Koke’s face because otherwise it would have been impossible for him to understand him.

“Sex is my fave subject. I probably know everything about it.” Antoine bragged with a smug grin.

“I bet you do.” Koke rolled his eyes evidently, earning a snigger from Antoine.

“So, what do you want to know?” Antoine asked finally behaving like an adult, playing with Koke’s hem of the shirt.

“Like… well, how does it feel?” There was something on his face that made quite obvious that he was mortified for asking, but he knew that at some point, he and Antoine would reach that point of maximum intimacy and he wanted to know things, even if he sounded quite naive.

“How does it feel? Well, you tell me, how has it felt so far?” Antoine shot a glance with his fierce blue eyes which made Koke’s heart stop.

“The things we do are amazing, but someday, I guess, we should be able to do… more.”

That sentence made Antoine’s heart to skip a beat. He had thought so many times about it, and it seemed almost prohibitive. He knew Koke liked the idea of them having all kinds of sex, but he also knew that there was something that was holding Koke back. Maybe it was shyness, maybe it was insecurity, or maybe it was just plain fear to the unknown, whatever it was, he wasn’t going to force things as much as he was looking forward to feel Koke inside of him.

“Like penetration?” Antoine said it out loud, because Koke didn’t seem to have enough courage to do it.

Koke nodded, his cheeks turning bright red. Of course he had done his research, he had watched some videos but everything looked so… uncomfortable?

“I’m not sure I can even begin to describe with words how it feels.” Antoine said, his eyes glowing.

“And… what are your preferences?” Koke asked still dying a little inside.

“I’m not sure I follow you.” Antoine tilted his head to the side, like a confused puppy.

“I mean, what do you like the most?” He could feel his cheeks burning and the heat in his body increasing. The fact that Antoine kept on playing with his shirt and his fingers were accidentally brushing his tummy, wasn’t helping either. “You’ve been saying a lot of times that you wanted me inside of you but maybe you prefer the other way around...” He stuttered.

“I like everything, honey. I can do whatever I want in bed.” The smug smile was there again and Koke hated himself for feeding his ego so much. “Even though I enjoy more when I’m bottom. Power bottom actually.”

“Power bottom?” Koke asked raising an eyebrow.

“Normally the one who tops is the one in control. A power bottom is the one in control. And I love to be the one in control.” He said biting his lower lip.

Koke started sweating imagining Antoine in such a situation. “But… doesn’t it hurt?” He asked concerned. Antoine negated with his head.

“If you’re really well prepared, it shouldn’t hurt. The key is being careful.” Antoine explained to Koke’s incredulous face. “You don’t picture it in your head, right?”

“Not really, that _has_ to hurt!”

“Well, let me explain you.” Antoine said finally fully awake, sitting up, straddling Koke’s lap and placing his hands on Koke’s chest, the blanket still covering a good part of their bodies. “Let’s imagine that we want to do it, okay? So the first thing we have to do is to prepare my body for you, so with a bit of lube, you’d start fingering me. One finger first, then two, then three... “ As Antoine was describing everything in detail, he was unconsciously circling his hips. “Very slowly and careful, with soft movements, scissoring your fingers inside of me. Meanwhile we could be kissing, caressing each other, stroking our cocks…” Koke’s hands were now placed on his hips, and he was looking at Antoine with his mouth open, listening intently.

Antoine lowered his face, kissed Koke’s temple and nibbled on his earlobe. “When we reach that point where those fingers have worked wonders inside of me, a point when...” He interrupted his explanation to suck on Koke’s pulse point, drawing a soft moan out his lips. “I’m so on fire that I can’t hold myself back anymore. Is in that moment when I’m fully ready for you.” He was playing with his fingers on Koke’s hair, while Koke was kneading his ass cheeks with his hands. “Then you place the tip of your cock in my entrance and you push slowly, until you fill up every centimeter of my body.”

Koke could feel the rush of blood travelling down his body and the pressure increasing in his underwear. He searched Antoine’s lips with his mouth, and kissed him rawly, moaning into the kiss. Antoine laughed and continued explaining the process while circling his hips.

“You can’t even imagine the sounds I would make, and to be honest with you, I don’t even know how I would react. I’m sure my whole body would tremble because even thinking about it I start shaking.” He smiled and Koke caressed his cheek. “And once you’re buried deep into me, you start pounding, driving me crazy. You can do it slowly or fast, you can take control or just let me do it, but one thing is for sure: we’re never going to forget it.”

At that point they kissed again, deep and calmly. Koke’s hands were still caressing all of Antoine’s lower body, while the motions of Antoine’s hips hadn’t stopped. They were both sharing sighs, Koke knew that was his only way to communicate in that hot moment.

“And you know what?” Antoine’s face was now too far from Koke for his boyfriend’s standards, he complained but Antoine wouldn’t close the gap. “ I can’t wait for you to be inside of me. I can’t wait until you make me moan uncontrollably. When I’m completely yours and yours only.” He lowered his face to whisper into Koke’s ear. “It’s in that moment when you will know how amazing I feel, how good I am at this, and how powerful this power bottom can be.” And he finished his sentence biting a bit on Koke’s earlobe. He could almost feel the shiver that had travelled through all of Koke’s body.

He faced Koke and saw him panting with his eyes closed. He sensed his cock hardening under his weight, almost digging into his ass cheeks. Antoine was quite aroused too, he loved the influx he had on Koke and how with only a few words he could make a mess of his body.

“Have I explained it well?” He let out in the most innocent tone he owned, poking Koke’s chin with his index finger.

Koke opened his eyes and looked at Antoine in disbelief. “I hope that day arrives soon.”

Antoine grinned at Koke’s words and kissed him sweetly. “You know we have all the time in the World, whenever you’re ready, I’m ready. Let’s not rush things.”

“You are incredible, I don’t know how you’re able to control yourself. I know you wish it with every cell of your body, yet you still will wait for me.” Words failed to Koke, the fact that Antoine was so understanding to him was one of his favourite things in their relationship.

“As much as I long for it, I want it to be completely perfect, and it will only be perfect when you feel it’s your moment.” Antoine smiled cheekily. “Don’t feel that I’m sacrificing myself because it’s not like that. I’m not doing anything special to control myself. You give me more than enough.” He reached Koke’s lips and kissed him slowly.

Antoine wasn’t lying to Koke. Of course he was craving for that last step in their relationship, but he was more than satisfied with their relationship. He didn’t even remember the last time he used his toys because he felt the need.

“There’s only one thing that worries me.” Koke noted as soon as they broke the kiss. “You said you can do both, what if someday you want to top? I’m not sure I can…”

Koke’s insecurity almost caused Antoine to ‘awww’ out loud, he controlled himself quite quickly. “Well, we always can try it and if you don’t like it, we won’t do it anymore. But trust me, it feels heavenly.”

“I don’t think I can feel pleasure down there.” Koke said innocently, making Antoine laugh.

“We all can, our G-spot is right there for a reason. Have you ever tried to finger yourself in your alone time?” He asked running his hands up and down Koke’s chest. Koke looked at him shyly and negated with his head. Antoine smiled mischievously. “Can we… try something?”


	44. Chapter 44

“Can we… try something?”

Antoine’s question had made Koke’s body tense up all of a sudden, after their previous talk he knew they had a lot to explore together but he wasn’t expecting it to be that early. Antoine had never let him down so far, so it was worth a try. He nodded still unsure, and looked at Antoine who dismounted him.

“Ok, I need you to do three things: first of all I need you to follow my instructions, I want you to completely trust me, and last but not least, if you feel uncomfortable, just stop me.” Antoine explained while taking Koke’s shirt off slowly. He smiled when he noticed that he was actually wearing his own clothes, and one of his favourite shirts of all time.

Koke raised his arms to help Antoine to take it off, Antoine spent a good time spreading kisses all over Koke’s chest, tickling his soft skin and trying to relax Koke’s clenched muscles. He smiled, Koke was scared and that was so endearing to him.

He continued pulling Koke’s shorts down while caressing his legs up and down soothingly. He kneaded the muscles on his thighs, insinuating his fingertips under the fabric of Koke’s underwear. He admired the growing bulge and kissed it sweetly, continuing a path up his body to his face. Koke smiled at him nervously, and rubbed Antoine’s back in an attempt to calm himself down more than anything.

Antoine lost himself on Koke’s neck, sucking carefully his skin to not leave any marks. Meanwhile, his body was rubbing against Koke’s, and the leg he had strategically placed between Koke’s legs, was increasing the pressure on Koke’s groin, causing his boyfriend to moan softly.

“You always do with me whatever you want.” Koke whispered, melting under Antoine’s touch, obtaining a pleased snigger from Antoine.

“And you love it…” Antoine bit delicately his lower lip and looked intensely at Koke, he thrusted his hips making Koke squirm at the unexpected pleasure. Antoine smiled again and straddled Koke’s abs. Sitting up he took off his own shirt and Koke took the chance to palm him over his shorts, feeling his hardness. Antoine purred delighted and delayed his plans for a bit, just to enjoy Koke’s motions.

Koke looked up to him with his huge brown eyes almost blushing, his cheeks were round and happy, and his white teeth appeared shy between his thin lips. Antoine was sure that no human being could be as perfect as his boyfriend.

The slow motions of Koke’s hand were almost torturing to Antoine. He rubbed circles on Antoine’s boner, increasing the pressure, sometimes he stopped just to squeeze his length and Antoine would close his eyes unwittingly, breaking the eye contact. Antoine opened his eyes and grabbed Koke’s wrists, inviting him to sit up, Antoine sitting on his lap. Koke obliged and Antoine crossed his legs behind Koke’s back. Koke attacked his neck with hungry kisses, nuzzling his warm skin.

Antoine hugged Koke’s neck and kissed his temple, he enjoyed his fruity hair scent. Koke’s hands got lost under the waistband of Antoine’s shorts and cupped his ass cheeks relentlessly. Antoine chuckled and grabbed Koke’s head placing both hands on his ears, he just made him look at his face, Antoine flashed a delightful smile which was contagious, as a few seconds later Koke was mimicking it, and rubbed his nose against Koke’s eskimo-kissing him.

“You are so cute.” Koke muttered searching Antoine’s lips with his own.

They shared a sweet kiss and Antoine’s hand slid under Koke’s underwear setting his erection free. He started stroking it lazily.

“And mischievous.” Koke continued letting out a deep breath, still caressing Antoine’s butt.

“You don’t even know what being mischievous is like.” The strokes became firmer and firmer as he was pronouncing the sentence, almost as a full stop after every word.

“Teach me!” Koke defied Antoine with a smug grin, slapping one of his ass cheeks softly.

“Lie down.” Hissed Antoine biting Koke’s lower lip playfully. He pushed his chest decisively until Koke’s back hit the sofa. He enjoyed Koke’s accelerated heartbeat under his palm.

As soon as Koke was in a relaxed position, Antoine went to pay attention to Koke’s groin again, taking his underwear off and admiring his hard cock. Without giving it a thought he put all his length in his mouth and sucked from the base to the tip withdrawing it. Koke gasped and Antoine laughed quietly, placing his hands firmly on Koke’s hips. He started blowing air directly to Koke’s wet dick, making him squirm at the sensation.

Koke’s hand went to grab Antoine’s hair between his fingers and Antoine thought he was trying to direct his motions, but all Koke actually needed was a solid reference point in case he lost his mind. He didn’t even push Antoine’s head against his attention-demanding cock and Antoine appreciated it as he wanted to set the pace. He rubbed circles on Koke’s hipbone calming him.

When Koke’s breathing pattern was a bit more steady Antoine lowered his face and kissed different spots on his boner sweetly, enjoying the taste. After sucking the flesh for a while, he left Koke’s hot length and continued all the way up his abs. After kissing Koke’s bellybutton he just nuzzled his skin until he reached his head. Antoine caressed the side of Koke’s face and dried the sweat out from his forehead with his fingers.

“How are you doing?” Antoine asked cheekily, playing with Koke’s stubble.

“I’m in hell right now.” Koke joked, his brain dominated by his painful erection.

“Great!” Antoine wetted his lips, his tongue touching Koke’s earlobe. “Turn around.” He whispered.

An electrifying impulse travelled through Koke’s body. It was a mixture of excitement, desire, and fear. Without thinking it twice he sat up, pecked Antoine’s lips, and adopted a new position lying on his belly. He could feel his heart thumping against the sofa’s seat, but he was pretty sure the excitement and the desire beat the fear by a long shot.

Antoine started massaging his back tenderly, trying to relax those clenched muscles. He guessed Koke was a bit uncertain at whatever he was going to do, so he wanted him to enjoy every second of it. He lowered his hands until he reached the beginning of his ass, and continued pressing his thumbs on the soft flesh there. After a while he had both of his hands on Koke’s ass cheeks and he was kneading them intensely. He could only hear Koke purring like a cat.

He lowered his head and sucked on his soft skin several times, planting wet kisses. And when Koke wasn’t expect it, he ran a finger through his ass crack, tickling it softly. Koke’s back muscles tensed visibly and Antoine laughed. “Do I carry on?” He asked. Koke nodded still surprised at how nice it had felt.

Antoine continued the motions, and he separated Koke’s ass cheeks enough to repeat the movement in the crack, but this time, with his tongue. Koke’s deep moan encouraged him to continue and he did it a few times more, the last time, he accompanied it by blowing a bit of air in the wet patch, causing Koke’s body to tremble intensely. Antoine smiled feeling accomplished and after he repeated the movements for a while, feeling the goosebumps on Koke's skin, he got ready for his next move. He stuck out his tongue again, but this time he went for the hole, and licked it slowly in small circles. The tip of his tongue carefully traced its outline, and his lips caressed Koke's ass cheeks.

Koke emitted a deep groan, almost guttural, and was panting heavily. His boner was aching so much trapped between his body and the sofa, and all the stimulation Antoine was doing, was causing chaos on his body. It felt so pleasant, so tingly, and so hot. And when Antoine darted his tongue into his hole shyly, it almost sent him over the edge. He could hear Antoine laughing in the distance, and then the hotness was gone.

“Turn around!” He heard, and even if his head felt heavy, he obeyed. When he did it, he found Antoine kneeling beside him, palming his own boner over his underwear. Antoine enjoyed the pleasured sparkle on Koke’s eyes and how flushed his face was.

Koke couldn’t help himself and attacked hungrily Antoine’s bulge, sucking it through the fabric first, and setting it free later. His lips took care of every inch of skin and Antoine started groaning loudly. Koke had become so good at it, and now his lips, and especially his tongue, had mastered the art of giving pleasure. Koke stroked Antoine’s boner expertly, his mouth taking care of his balls. Antoine’s breathing became heavier and heavier and then he decided to take control again.

With a firm push Koke was lying on his back waiting for Antoine’s next idea. Antoine laid on top of him, making their boners to press together. They shared some lazy kisses while their hard cocks were rubbing each other, increasing the hardness and the pace of their breathings.

“Did it feel good?” Antoine asked between kisses and gasps.

Koke let out a laboured and breathy ‘yes’, his body focusing its energies on feeling Antoine’s body against his hungry skin.

“So you believe me now, right?” He bit Koke’s lower lip between giggles.

“Why did you stop? You’re such a tease!” Koke complained, placing his hands firmly on Antoine’s hips, pressing his body against his own to increase the friction even more.

“Because it’s funny!” He grinned, adding a bit of extra pressure in his thrusts. His lips fighting with Koke’s. “And because I don’t want you to take too much at first… you will discover a lot of amazing sensations with time.”

Koke was amazed at how Antoine could create those long and coherent sentences when both of them were so close. Adventurously he directed one of his hands to Antoine’s crack and let his fingers travel all over it. Antoine for sure, wasn’t expecting it, and reacted increasing the pace of his movements.

“You learn fast.” He whispered tired, sweat pearling his skin. He was feeling so accomplished and happy that he couldn’t delete the smile from his face even when the pleasure was taking over him. Koke kept on caressing that delicate area because he was obtaining the most amazing sounds out from Antoine’s lips, and tried to rub circles on Antoine’s hole right as he had previously done with his tongue.

An unbearable heat took over Antoine’s body and his high-pitched moans announced his violent orgasm. He released all his load on Koke’s lap and his cum lubricated Koke’s shaft. Even if Antoine’s cock was oversensitive after coming, and every single touch was painful, he continued the thrusting to help his boyfriend to get closer to the edge.

“I can’t wait for you to make love to me.” Antoine whispered into Koke’s ear, trying to encourage him. He assumed that it would turn him on even more, helping him to reach his orgasm, and judging by Koke’s gasps, it was working. He moaned into his ear, teasingly, making his voice echo in Koke’s brain. “I need you to make love to me.” Antoine repeated in a fierce tone, making it sound almost like an order. And that was it. Koke’s cum was mixing with their sweat and Antoine’s load all over his skin.

Koke panted, hugging Antoine’s fragile frame. Trying to come back to reality, putting the words in his brain in the correct order. After a few seconds swallowing saliva to relieve his dry throat, he could make his voice work a bit.

“It will happen soon.”

It almost sounded like a promise.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Holidays!!!
> 
>  
> 
> Next Update in 2017, more info here: http://goingkrizi.tumblr.com/post/154977907521/a-little-message-for-my-fic-readers
> 
> Happy New Year!


	45. Chapter 45

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy New Year everybody!!!

The blanket was again covering their tired bodies, which were still recovering from the effort. Antoine was hugging Koke from behind spooning him, kissing lazily his back. Koke relaxed under Antoine’s lips and enjoyed the tingly sensation.

It had been several minutes and Koke hadn’t opened his mouth, Antoine had almost thought that he had fallen asleep, but sometimes he laughed softly at Antoine’s caresses or changed a bit his position. It wasn’t normal for him to be that quiet.

“What happens?” Antoine asked, knowing that something was off. “You’re too silent.”

Koke emitted a deep sigh and turned around, facing Antoine. His face was relaxed but there was some worry painted on his eyes. He found a concerned gesture on Antoine.

“It’s just that…” He paused and licked his dry lips nervously. “Remember when I told you earlier that it had been just a normal lunch with my parents?” Antoine nodded, searching Koke’s hand intertwining their fingers together. He squeezed it gently. “Today was the day when I was going to come out to them.”

“Oh my God!” Antoine exclaimed out loud. “What happened?” He asked urgently, feeling nervous all of a sudden.

“I just couldn’t do it.” Koke admitted in a defeated tone. Blinking slowly. “I thought I was ready to do it, but right when I was going to say ‘Mom, Dad, I’m gay’ my throat went dry and my legs started shaking, and I had to cancel the plan.” Koke ended his sentence with a deep sigh. It was obvious that he felt it as a lost chance and almost as a lost battle.

“That happens.” Antoine nodded caressing Koke’s hand with his thumb.

“I didn’t know I would panic like that, I thought it’d be easier. I’ve trusted my parents a lot of things, why am I so scared about this?” Koke asked clueless, but unfortunately, Antoine didn’t have an answer for that.

“It’s ok, if it didn’t happen it’s because it wasn’t meant to happen. There’s plenty of time for you to tell them.”

“The thing is that with every day that passes, I feel like not telling them is pushing them away from my life a bit. Does that even make sense?” Koke furrowed his brows trying to understand himself.

“It does. Look at it like this: you feel completely happy with me, but we all know that when we’re that happy the only thing we want to do is to talk about it, and share our happiness with our loved ones. Deep inside you know that you’re neglecting your family from that potential joy, and that makes you feel them far.” Antoine reasoned.

“That sounds quite accurate, but you know that the other possibility also exists…” Koke let out and Antoine quickly understood that the ‘potential joy’ could turn into rejection and that was what Koke feared the most. Things weren’t as easy as they seemed.

“I know.” Antoine muttered, coming back to the hard reality.

“But well, my Mom knows that something is going on. She could perceive it, and by her words, she knows that the thing I have to share with them has to do with my love life. And she knows it’s something good.”

“That’s great!” Antoine’s exclamation made Koke raise an eyebrow. “I mean, she knows there’s some good news coming up soon, and she probably sees how happy you are. Maybe she’s thinking you’ve got a girlfriend or something. So what you have to do, is to make super obvious to them that you’re happier than ever in your life, so when you reveal what is happening, they have to realize that if it’s a girlfriend or a boyfriend is irrelevant, but what really matters is that you’re happy.”

“I adore your optimism.” Koke laughed briefly.

“And what about Borja?” He changed the topic quickly. “Did he notice that you were going to tell them?”

“He was at work.” Koke replied absent-minded.

“Maybe what you need to do is to ask advice to your older brother… Kokito, you better not do this by yourself. Search some support, please.”

Koke smiled at his nickname, he always found it so cute whenever Antoine used it.

“I think you’re right, I should call Borja and maybe between the two of us we can come up with a good idea.”

“Or... You know, maybe you could introduce him to your boyfriend…” He let out half-annoyed. Antoine still didn’t understand why Borja didn’t know that he was Koke’s boyfriend. “So I could help you too.”

“It’s true! He doesn’t know!” Koke exclaimed with huge eyes, making Antoine facepalm. “I’m sorry, it’s just that I don’t see him often and he never brings up the topic to the conversation so I always forget to tell him, it’s nothing personal, I swear.”

Antoine laughed at Koke’s explanations, sometimes he couldn’t believe how dreamy he was, but he loved him anyway.

 

Training sessions were always hard, but if they could end them with a silly competition, they did it. It helped them relax after the big effort and they always had a great time. Sometimes it was hitting the wood from a far distance with the ball, some others was a penalty shoot-out, and in specific days it was trying to make the ball not touch the ground.

This time it was a penalty shoot-out between Antoine and Godin, Koke and Saul had been eliminated in a previous game and Saul had already left them on the pitch. It was raining too much and he excused himself saying that he was dealing with a bit of a cold, so he joined the rest of their teammates on the locker room. Koke, on the other hand, remained there to discover the winner of their tournament, because whoever won would be bragging for a whole week and he needed to prepare himself mentally for that.

It was a balanced fight. Antoine was better at scoring, and Godin was taller, so it was easier to him to block Antoine’s shots, Koke was laughing so much at their silly banter.

“You shoot like a five-years old!” Antoine defied Diego, waiting for him to take his penalty.

“That’s because I want to give you a chance!” Diego shouted from the other side of the box, ready to start running towards the ball.

Koke rolled his eyes and smiled. If this was a big-mouthed-people competition, it’d be a close call.

Diego started running and he kicked the ball with all his power. Antoine guessed the direction of the shoot and jumped to that side of the goal, flying with his arms extended over his head. The ball hit the wood and changed its direction, impacting unfortunately on Antoine’s face, making him fall on the ground harshly. The collision created a loud bang followed by the echo of the wood trembling, and the incessant rain falling.

Diego let out a sonorous laugh at his lack of aim, while Antoine was lying on the grass on his belly, motionless. Koke stood up alarmed and ran to Antoine as fast as he could.

“He’s just being dramatic, Kokito!” Diego said, walking calmly to the goal.

Koke was having none of it and reached Antoine’s body, kneeling beside him. Shaking his shoulder with his hand.

“Grizi! Are you ok?” Koke asked, his heart pounding on his chest. Antoine wouldn’t answer. That’s when Godin sped up and joined them inside the goal. Antoine wasn’t pretending.

“ _Hermano_ , come on, it’s not funny!” Godin said hoping that Antoine was tricking them. He was still not responding.

Koke lifted the arm that was covering Antoine’s face and pushed his body slightly to make him lay on his side.

“Grizi please…” He implored in a whisper, more to himself than to Antoine. His hands were trembling, but he managed to discover Antoine’s face. “He’s bleeding!” Koke announced again, more to himself than to Diego. Looking the red dyeing his trembling fingers.

Antoine’s nose was bleeding profusely, staining part of his face. His eyes were closed and there was a big red mark all over his face after the ball hit him. Koke started slapping his cheek softly, trying to wake him up.

“Hey Grizi, please, wake up!” Koke’s voice sounded choked and Diego noticed it. He kneeled by Koke’s side, placing a hand on his shoulder.

“He’ll be fine, I don’t think I broke his nose and he’ll wake up from the shock shortly. I’m going to call one of the doctors, take care of him in the meantime.” And with that he stood up and sprinted towards the locker room. Koke had heard him but hadn’t actually listened to him, he was way too worried to pay attention.

Koke took off his long-sleeved shirt and used it to clean Antoine’s face. There was still some blood streaming down his nose, but at least his face didn’t look so scary anymore. He pressed his palm against Antoine’s cold cheek.

“This is so scary Grizi. I want to think that the hit wasn’t that hard, but I’m panicking here, please wake up!” A shy tear escaped Koke’s eyes, but it was quickly washed out by the pouring rain. Koke lowered his head and kissed Antoine’s temple, nuzzling his wet hair a bit. “Don’t do this to me, I’m so scared.” He whispered into his ear.

Koke went back to the slapping strategy, this time a little bit stronger, accompanied by some shoulder-shaking. After a few seconds he could see Antoine’s eyelashes fluttering.

“Grizi!” He shouted, shaking his shoulder vigorously. Joy starting to take over his body.

The blue on Antoine’s eyes looked confused, appearing shy through his eyelids. He frowned and carried one of his hands to his face slowly.

“My head hurts.” He muttered. Koke grabbed his hand and pulled it away. Antoine looked at him shocked.

“Don’t touch it! Wait for a second, Diego is calling the doctors.”

“Why? And why are you sleeveless? It’s freezing!” Antoine asked, shivering a bit himself.

“You’ve lost your consciousness for a minute or two.” The more scary minute or two Koke had experienced in his life without a doubt. “So you’re staying here until the Doctor comes and confirms you’re ok.”

“I am ok. Why are you half-naked?” He raised an eyebrow, impatiently waiting for an answer.

“I needed something to clean the mess on your face.” Koke grabbed the shirt from the ground. The pale blue was stained by a lot of red. Antoine gasped.

“My beautiful face!” He joked, squeezing Koke’s hand.

“It’s ok, I love you still.” Koke smiled, there was no doubt Antoine was fine.

At that moment, Diego and the Doctor sprinted through the pitch until their position. Diego sighed relieved seeing Antoine was fully conscious.

“Damn, you’re surely dramatic as hell.” Diego joked. “You almost made Koke have a heart attack!” He said messing Koke’s wet hair. “Also, why are you half-naked?” He asked diverting his attention to Koke. Koke rolled his eyes.

“This guy has always got my back!” Antoine smiled offering a fist to Koke, his boyfriend bumped it with his own and mimicked the smile.

Koke stood up and stepped back a bit to let the doctor do his work. The doctor kneeled next to Antoine and started checking his face, his reflexes, his nose bones, and his eyes. Diego walked to Koke and threw an arm around his shoulders. He noticed Koke was shivering.

“Come on Kokito, let’s go inside, it’s super cold in here!” He said in a kind tone, rubbing Koke’s bare arms with his hands.

“No!” Koke let out, focusing on the doctor’s work.

“He’s in good hands. Come on! You’re freezing!” Diego insisted and Koke finally gave up. He was positively sure that the reason was fear more than coldness, but he knew Diego was right and the warmness of the locker room was the best thing to him. “I’m sure the Doc doesn’t even need us here!”

“Yeah, you can go inside, we’ll finish soon!” The doctor said placing some cotton inside Antoine’s nostrils.

Koke grabbed his blood-stained shirt and walked lazily in the locker room direction, next to Diego. He looked at it, breathing relieved at how happily it had all ended. The was still a lump on his throat he couldn’t swallow, so he remained silent. Diego noticed his nervous mood.

“Koke…” Diego pronounced the syllables calmly, as trying to get Koke’s attention. “It’s ok. He is ok.” He said reassuringly. “In approximately five minutes he will be walking through the locker room door with a clogged nose, a red face, and a proud smile because even if it was with his face, he blocked the last shot and won.”

A silent smile appeared on Koke’s lips because he knew that was true, Antoine would never miss a chance to tease anybody. He shook his head, trying to forget the angst on his body, and walked into the locker room, which was quite empty. Most of the players had already left, and the ones that remained were checking their phones already dressed in their street clothes. Koke walked into the showers wordlessly, his muscles frozen and cramped, ready to wash away his worry.

Diego looked at him from a few steps behind. He observed how Koke had still the bloody shirt on his fist, held tightly. Way too tightly. He could also see how his other hand reached his head and combed back his hair, ending on his nape, holding it and stretching it, followed by a deep sigh that echoed in their side of the locker room.

A smile appeared on Diego’s face.


	46. Chapter 46

“Tell me again how much you panicked!” Antoine teased Koke as soon as they reached Koke’s place. Koke rolled his eyes and closed the door behind him. “Diego said you almost had a heart attack!”

“Grizi, it’s not funny. I thought you had hurt yourself badly!” Koke reminded to Antoine, who had a shit-eating grin painted on his face.

“It’s so cute when you care about me so much!” Antoine approached Koke and placed his hands around his neck. Koke instinctively rested his hands on Antoine’s waist. “By the way, the Doctor told me that as I’ve lost my consciousness for a while, I have to be alert in the next twenty-four hours in case I feel dizzy or even if I faint. I promised him to be with another person the whole time because he wanted to make me sleep at the hospital tonight, so you better don’t go anywhere.”

“Are you asking me to be with you the whole day?” Koke double-checked with a smile on his lips. “I can do that.” He closed the gap between them a bit.

“He also told me that I shouldn’t do big physical efforts today.” Antoine announced in a sad voice, dropping a hint of what he was thinking. 

“It’s ok... I will treat you today like a King.” Koke said caressing Antoine’s face with his voice.

“You always treat me like I’m the most precious thing on Earth.” Antoine laughed shrugging his shoulders, his lips almost touching Koke’s. He closed his eyes. “What is going to be the difference?”

“There’s no difference.” Koke rubbed his lips with Antoine’s not giving him a proper kiss yet. “But I will do everything you ask me.” They finally pressed their lips together quite briefly. “Everything.” Koke remarked, sending a shiver down Antoine’s spine.

“Right in the day when I can’t do any physical effort. Lucky me!” He enjoyed Koke’s breathing tickling his face, making him smile. He caressed the short hair on Koke’s nape with his fingers.

Koke’s grasp around his waist tightened and pulled Antoine’s body upwards, making him jump and surround Koke’s hips with his legs. Koke supported Antoine’s body weight by holding him by his lower back. They started kissing slowly and deeply. 

Antoine secretly enjoyed that position so much, he didn’t know why, but the fact that he needed to hug Koke firmly with all his body to avoid falling to the ground was one of his favourite things. In that position they could always share kisses, and he loved to have his face in a higher point that Koke’s because that allowed him to control the kiss better.

Koke started walking towards the living room, not breaking the kiss in any moment. Antoine continued hugging Koke’s neck and playing with his tongue. When they reached the sofa, Koke sat on the edge and Antoine untangled his legs, placing his knees on both sides of Koke’s body, Koke repositioned himself resting his back on the backboard, while Antoine straddled his lap, his weight resting on Koke’s thighs.

As soon as they had found the perfect position, they started kissing each other again, very slowly. Koke grabbed a soft blanket with one of his hands and wrapped it around Antoine’s body as he wouldn’t stop kissing him. He had noticed how Antoine body was still cold, but Antoine didn’t seem to care that much. Antoine smiled when he felt the fluffy fabric hugging him. 

“So, it’s true. You’re going to treat me like a King today.” He said in a questioning tone, grabbing the tips of the blanket with his fingers, placing it over his head framing his face.

Koke smirked, it was as if Antoine was wearing a hoodie, and he looked incredibly cute whenever he worn one. He pressed his palm against Antoine’s cheek and caressed it.

“You know you can ask me whatever you want.” Koke replied placing his hands on Antoine’s thighs, rubbing them soothingly.

“I want our bodies to be glued together for the rest of the day.” Antoine said cheekily, with an innocent tone.

“But that’s what we always do!” Koke laughed. “Don’t you want anything else?”

“I don’t know. I’m happy with that.” Antoine shrugged his shoulders and caused Koke to blush, his boyfriend gifted him a sweet kiss.

“Me too.” Koke muttered.

They searched a more comfortable position, both of them lying on their sides, looking at each other. The cozy blanket hiding their caresses and cuddles. Koke nuzzled Antoine’s neck and rested his head on his chest. Antoine tangled his fingers on his hair, scratching gently his scalp. Their calm breathings were the only sounds filling the room, they didn’t need to talk to enjoy the moment. When both of them were about to fall asleep, Koke’s phone alarmed them. Koke reached his pocket and took his phone out, it was his brother. He activated the hands-free option and answered.

“Hey Borja, what’s up?”

“Hi! It was just that I don’t work this afternoon and I was just wondering if you want to hang out or something?”

Koke lifted his head and looked at Antoine to ask him. To be honest with himself, he really wanted to spend time with his brother as they didn’t see each other that much, but he had promised to spend the whole day with Antoine who, by the way, needed company by the Doctor’s prescription. Antoine looked back at him and nodded calmly, he had Koke for himself almost everyday, it was only fair that he got to spend time with his family too. Koke flashed a thankful smile.

“Yeah, how about you come to my place? I don’t really want to go outside, the weather is terrible.”

“Fine, give me half an hour and I’ll be there.”

When the conversation ended, Koke left the phone on the table and looked at Antoine again. 

“I’m sorry, I know I promised…”

“It’s ok.” Antoine interrupted him with a soft laugh. “You need to spend time with your brother.”

“Have I already mentioned that you’re the best?” Koke said hugging Antoine’s chest gently.

“You should do it more often.” Antoine joked, moving Koke’s body away, trying to sit up.

“What are you doing?” Koke asked surprised.

“Well, I guess you two have a lot of personal stuff to talk about, I should go.” Antoine pointed out. He wanted to stay with Koke for the rest of the day but he understood the brothers needed their moment.

“No way, you’re staying here with us. You need company today, do you remember? What if you feel bad?” Koke’s tone of concern was blatantly obvious.

“Kokito, I’ll be fine.” Antoine calmed him, standing up. Koke stood up and faced him, placing his hands on his shoulders. Antoine wrapped his arms around Koke’s waist. They smiled sweetly. “Don’t worry for me."

“Grizi…” Koke whispered. “I want you to stay, please. I’m going to be so nervous if you walk through that door and I don’t see you in the next hours. Today is not a day to be apart.”

“Are you sure that I’m not going to disturb you two by being here?” Antoine’s gaze was oddly vulnerable, he felt Koke’s hands squeezing his shoulders.

“You could never ever disturb me in any way... and my brother fucking adores you! The only reason to let you go would be if you told me that you’re not going to feel comfortable here, because I’m not going to force you to stay if you don’t want to. So the decision is up to you.” Koke told him in a soft tone, crossing his fingers. Antoine hesitated for a few seconds.

“I am staying.” Antoine decided, painting a grin on Koke’s face.

 

Borja arrived to Koke’s place and greeted his brother with a big hug. After the usual comments about how cold was outside, they walked to the living room, where Antoine was sitting wiggling one of his knees.

“Heyyy! I didn’t know you were here!” Borja waved with a cheerful voice. “How are you, man?” He shook hands with Antoine. “I’m so happy to see you.”

“It’s great to see you again Borja, how are you doing?” Antoine said politely, inviting Borja to take a seat. Both sat down while Koke was preparing some drinks in the kitchen.

“I’m fine, just a bit stressed at work. How about you? How come you’re here?”

“Just hanging out with your brother, you know.” Antoine shrugged his shoulders and smiled shyly. In that moment Koke appeared carrying a tray with three sodas and some appetizers. 

“We could play some videogames, what do you think?” Koke asked placing the tray on the table and sitting next to his brother, leaving Borja between Antoine and himself.

“I miss beating your ass at FIFA!” Borja exclaimed making Antoine laugh. 

“FIFA is it, then.” Koke rolled his eyes, he had enough with his teammates making fun of him because of his poor skills at FIFA, he didn’t need his brother and his boyfriend teaming up against him.

“We can do a tournament.” Antoine pointed out. “We could play head-to-head games, and the best two will play a final!”

They spent a few minutes setting the rules up, and when they were ready, they started playing. The first match was Antoine vs. Borja. Antoine was surprised at Koke’s brother skills. He didn’t knew he was so good at videogames, he surely needed his best to beat him. Koke watched them thinking that he was completely doomed, there was no way he could beat any of them. 

Silly jokes and comments filled the room, fun bragging and competitiveness were on the air, and after some minutes the match ended with a draw. 

“Ok Kokito, let’s see what you can do!” Borja exclaimed.

“It’s not fair, you’ve warmed up, I’m all cold.” Koke complained, grabbing the controller from Antoine’s hands and sitting beside them. 

“I see you’re already preparing excuses for when you lose.” Borja’s joke caused Koke to roll his eyes. He didn’t say anything because he knew that it was quite possible that his brother was right. He wasn’t good at videogames.

Antoine laughed during the whole interchange, he loved their healthy banter. He whispered a ‘good luck’ which made Koke smile shyly, and with that the game started. It wasn’t late until Borja had scored two goals and was celebrating his pass to the final making his brother facepalm. 

“I’ve not lost my touch!” Borja said with a ridiculous dance. “All right, whoever of you two wins this match, will face me in the final. It’s up to you if you want to do it or not.” He cackled gloatingly, Koke and Antoine looked at him and then looked at each other smiling. 

“Is he always like this?” Antoine asked in a low voice.

“Sometimes he’s even worse.” Koke replied with a funny face.

“Hey, I can hear you!” Borja exclaimed, handling his controller to Antoine. “Good luck to both of you.” He reclined in the sofa, sipping on his drink completely relaxed. He was quite confident of his skills.

The game between Koke and Antoine started and surprisingly to everybody in the room, Koke scored first. He almost didn’t celebrate his goal at all because he knew it was really difficult to beat Antoine at FIFA. He was used to play with him a lot, and he couldn’t remember the last time he had beaten him. Luckily to him, Antoine wasn’t the bragging type, so he usually just shook his fist, said a cheerful ‘¡Vamos!’ and then congratulated Koke for his match. Most of the times Antoine requested a prize for winning, and Koke usually gifted him a warm kiss which made both of them forget about the game, and focus on better things.

This time Antoine gritted his teeth and let his competitiveness flow, using all of his best skills to first equalize and later, score a second goal to end up winning the game. Koke muttered a ‘dammit’ and Antoine offered his hand to his boyfriend.

“Well played, this has been one of your best matches!” Antoine said softly.

Koke shook his hand and smiled. Antoine always made the losses less bitter. He stood up, gave his controller to his brother, and sat next to Antoine, leaving him in the middle.

“Oh, are you supporting him now?” Borja asked jokingly. “Way to betray me!”

“That’s because he’s nicer to me than you are!” Koke teased placing a hand on Antoine’s shoulder. “I’m Team Grizi today.”

Antoine blushed slightly and focused on the screen, making some changes on his team trying to take advantage on Borja’s weak points. 

“I’m ready, let’s go!” Antoine said confidently.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! I've noticed a significant drop in the number of comments and I was just wondering if you're still there reading in silence, or you just have lost interest in the fic. I'm just curious because you know, I love to read all of your feedback and I'm receiving very little lately. 
> 
> I know the last chapters aren't top quality but believe me when I tell you that I'm doing a huge effort to update every week despite my tight work schedule. So yeah, if you're still reading, leave a comment because they motivate me so much and honestly I'm struggling a bit to develop the story.
> 
> Thanks for your attention.


	47. Chapter 47

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanted to tell you all that I'm deeply thankful for the huge support received in the last chapter through comments. I'm very happy that you're still there enjoying the story and that you're following the story's updates. Your support means the world to me :)

As soon as Antoine said he was ready, Borja nodded and they started the game. It was a tad confusing for Koke as both of them had chosen Atleti, so it was the same players all over the screen. At least they had chosen different kits so it was slightly easier to tell them apart. Antoine’s team was playing with the rojiblanco shirt and Borja was using the second kit.

“We won La Liga with the second kit, so it’s lucky for us. Hopefully it will be lucky for me too!” Borja pointed out, while his fingers tapped frantically on the controller's buttons. “Watch out Antoine!” He said while he used a virtual Mario Mandzukic to score the first goal of the match. He jumped with his fists on the air while Antoine was kicking himself.

“You can win this!” Koke muttered reassuringly patting Antoine’s back.

“I’m still hearing you!” Borja said with an amused smile, looking at his brother.

“And I’m still Team Grizi!” Koke said proudly, teasing his brother.

The match continued and the result at the half-time was the same. 0-1. They took a brief break to stretch and breathe fresh air, and they resumed the game a few minutes later. This time Antoine was the one creating the most dangerous chances but missing a good part of them.

“Gosh, what is happening to me?” Antoine exclaimed with a tone of frustration. “I’m usually better than this!”

“I can confirm.” Koke pointed out.

“That’s because you’ve never played someone as good as me!” Borja bragged, making Antoine raise an eyebrow. Even if he knew that Koke’s brother was joking, he had promised himself to make him shut up by scoring at least one goal.

The match reached the last five minutes and Borja was controlling Antoine’s attacks as well as he could, but the Frenchman was playing his best. When Borja was expecting it less, Antoine make one of his players kick the ball from a long distance and it resulted in a wonderful goal.

“ _Golazo!_ ” Antoine exclaimed standing up and shaking his fist. He smiled when he saw the virtual player celebrating on the screen. “Kokito! I knew you would come to the rescue!” Funnily enough, the goal that was saving him, had been scored by the videogame version of his boyfriend. Antoine would admit that the pixels didn’t do justice to the perfection of Koke’s features, but it was a good effort.

“Sorry Borja!” Koke couldn’t stop laughing and high-fived Antoine.

“Yeah, for sure!” Borja side-eyed his brother. “So I guess this is an extra-time, right?”

Antoine usually hated extra-times, it wasn’t that he had played many of them during his lifetime, but they were exhausting more mentally than physically. Fortunately for him, this was only a videogame and it was quite less stressful than the real thing.

Shortly after the initial kick-off Antoine created magic with his fingers, and his FIFA version scored a wonderful goal that he celebrated as if it was a real goal. The rest of the extra-time was Borja trying his best but failed against the wall Antoine has displayed with his defenders. The final whistle showed the definite result. 2-1.

“Well played man, well played.” Borja accepted his defeat and offered his hand to Antoine, who shook it cheerfully.

“You’re tough! That was so hard!” Antoine replied complimenting Borja’s skills.

“I can say pretty much the same. I finally meet someone who is at my level!” Borja’s words made Koke shoot an annoyed glance to his brother. “Kokito, don’t look at me like that, you know it’s true!”

“Yeah whatever.” Koke rolled his eyes. “Congrats Grizi, I’ve not seen my brother losing a match in forever.”

“He’s not lying. I never lose. I wish I had you were here more often, I like challenges.” Borja said leaving the controller on the table.

Antoine and Koke looked at each other smirking. Koke placed his arm surrounding Antoine’s shoulders and bringing him a bit closer to his body.

“Well Borjita… I think your wish has already been granted.” Koke let out in a soft voice. Antoine couldn’t help blushing. At last Koke had decided to tell his brother and that was making him so happy.

“What do you mean?” Borja asked raising an eyebrow.

“It’s that Grizi spends a lot of time here lately…” Koke said mysteriously, Borja wasn’t really understanding what his brother was trying to say.

“And why is that?”

Koke offered his free hand to Antoine and he replied intertwining their fingers together. Antoine squeezed Koke’s palm reassuringly. Antoine kept his head low to hide his rosy cheeks from Borja’s eyes. He had a grin painted on his face, he was feeling so proud of Koke.

“Grizi is the reason why I’m so happy lately.” Koke said in a sweet tone and Antoine let out a silent laugh. He couldn’t believe how cheesy he was being. Koke looked at his brother who was still having trouble deciphering Koke’s intentions.

“Is this for real or you’re tricking me? It’s not April Fools!” Borja said stuttering.

“Why would it have to be a prank?” Koke said half-annoyed. He was confused by his brother reaction.

“Kokito are you trying to tell me that one of my favourite players is now my brother-in-law? Because if it’s not true I’m going to kick your ass until next Christmas!”

His reaction made Koke relax all of a sudden. He knew Borja wouldn’t fail him. Antoine didn’t really know what to say, he was loving Borja’s surprised face. He had his mouth wide open in a half-smile. Bordering disbelief and utter joy.

“Welcome Grizi to the family, don’t be rude!” Koke said in a funny tone and Borja stood up with his arms extended.

“Come here!” He said offering a big hug to Antoine. “I can’t believe it! Oh my God! This is so perfect!” He broke the hug holding Antoine by his shoulders. “I’m so happy to have you in the family now!”

“Thank you.” Antoine said shyly behind a cheeky smile.

Koke stood up to receive another hug from his brother, but he received a punch on his arm instead.

“What the hell! Why didn’t you tell me earlier?” Borja exclaimed exaggeratedly. “Why were you neglecting me from enjoying this? Gosh I hate you!” He let out before hugging Koke tightly. “I’m so happy for both of you, I wish you all the best!”

“Thanks brother.” Koke tried to control his emotions because he was on the verge of crying. Borja’s support meant the world to him. “There’s another thing.” Koke’s tone suddenly changed into one a lot more serious.

“What happens.” Borja noticed the change.

“I need you to not tell anything to Mom and Dad yet, I’m still finding the way to tell them, and I may need your help but I still don’t know how to do it.”

“It’s ok, I understand. But here’s my advice, when you tell them about your relationship, maybe you should tell them since the very beginning that your boyfriend is Antoine. They liked him a lot in New Year’s Eve, they know he’s a nice guy, polite, friendly. They know about your great friendship, and how much fun you have together... So if they know that you’re with someone like him, they will probably receive the news more positively than if you keep the mystery.” Borja explained. “You know, parents are always worried if someone is ‘good enough’ for their children. Well, Antoine is more than good, you should play that in your favour.”

“Koke is worried that your parents are not going to accept his homosexuality.” Antoine said bluntly, he really wanted to hear Borja’s feedback.

“Well to be fair I can’t tell you how they’re going to react because this is something completely new at home. They’re going to be surprised for sure, but after the initial shock they should be happy for you two. They may be old-fashioned or whatever you want to call it, but they’re not intolerant people, they’re good people.” Borja nodded trying to convince Antoine that they were going to be fine.

“Borja I would like you to be in the room when I tell them, I think your support could help me a lot. I’m going to be so nervous when it happens.” Koke said with a vulnerable gesture.

“You know I’ve always got your back!” Borja exclaimed. “Do you have any idea of when you’re going to tell them?”

“Whenever I’m ready, which means that it will happen in the moment I think I can tell them without fainting.” Borja and Antoine laughed at Koke’s words. Borja placed one of his hands on Koke’s shoulders and squeezed it gently.

“Everything is going to be fine.” The older man whispered.

 

As soon as Borja had left the house, Koke turned around to find his boyfriend’s pleased smile. Antoine walked to him and wrapped his arms around his waist, resting his chin on Koke’s shoulder.

“I am so proud of you.” He whispered softly, feeling Koke’s arms protecting his back and pressing him closer.

“Why? I didn’t do anything special.” Koke replied softly.

“Oh dear!” Antoine exclaimed, breaking the hug and placing his hands on both sides of Koke’s face. “Can’t you see it?”

“See what?” Koke asked confused, feeling his cheeks squeezed, having trouble to move his mouth more.

“Your evolution! Oh my God, it’s incredible to see! A few months ago you couldn’t even understand your feelings for me, and now you’re telling your family about you… about us!” Antoine explained with a cheerful tone.

Koke replied with a shy smile, he was putting so much pressure on his own shoulders thinking about telling his parents, that he had forgotten the path he had walked so far.

“Do you think I’m doing well?”

“Are you happy?”

“More than even before.”

“I think you just replied to your own question.”

It was funny to Koke how he used to take things for granted. He was finally experiencing what loving and being loved back was, and he kept on focusing on the incomplete parts of the picture. It was like his brain was trying to sabotage his own happiness.

“Grizi…” He muttered.

“What?” Antoine replied brushing Koke’s hair with his fingers.

“Thank you.” Koke let out in a soft tone. “Thanks for your advices, for your patience, for your support. Thank you for loving me unconditionally, for always making me feel better…”

“You don’t have to thank me!” Antoine quickly blushed, his cheeks burning.

“Thanks for being my best friend, my lover, and my happy place.” Koke continued, his breathing tickling Antoine’s face.

“Why are you doing this?” Antoine asked feeling his legs trembling. It was overwhelming for him whenever Koke was this intense.

“Because I never say it out loud, and you’re so good to me that you deserve to hear it from time to time. I know you don’t need it but I guess it’s nice for you to hear it.” Koke replied with a sincere smile, and half a second after finishing his sentence, Antoine’s lips had trapped him into a slow and heartfelt kiss. He could feel Antoine sighing into the kiss making him grin.

He loved admiring Antoine’s flushed face, his two front teeth shining through a parted smile. His round cheeks swollen with joy, and the blue on his eyes sparkling.

“By the way, I’ve not forgotten you’re my King today. Wait for me here, I want to do something for you.” Koke kissed Antoine’s cheek before disappearing through one of the house corridors.

Antoine couldn't help sighing.


	48. Chapter 48

“Ok, this is ready!”

Antoine could hear Koke’s voice resounding from the other side of the house. He felt tired and his head was starting to ache again, but he didn’t want to say it out loud because he didn’t want to worry Koke more. After all, his boyfriend had proudly prepared something for him and he was about to discover what was it.

He walked to Koke’s bedroom, which almost felt as his own bedroom at times, as he had spent plenty of nights there. He had part of his clothes on the closet, the nightstand on his side of the bed had one of his phone chargers, clean underwear, a bottle of his favourite cologne. To not talk about the increasing amount of products invading the shelves of Koke’s bathroom. They had decided it was easier this way. Koke had also a good part of his belongings in Antoine’s house, so they wouldn’t stress if they spent the night on the other’s house, and they could go directly to training without having to stop by their own houses before. This also granted them a few more minutes together in the morning, playing between the sheets, or having a morning shower just a tad longer.

“Where are you?” Antoine shouted when he found the empty room.

“I’m here!” Koke’s voice was accompanied by a characteristic echo, which only could be produced in the bathroom.

Antoine followed his voice until he found him. The bathroom light was off, but the room was dimly illuminated by some candles surrounding Koke’s jacuzzi. Antoine was surprised seeing the water flowing on it, as Koke didn’t like to switch it on. He was more of a shower person, and he very rarely used his luxurious jacuzzi. Antoine always thought that it was a shame that such an amazing thing was unused, but he respected Koke’s decision.

There was a nice smell floating in the air, coming from the bubbly water that was waiting for Antoine. Koke was sitting on the edge of the bathtub, pouring two cups of orange juice. Antoine laughed.

“Juice?”

“What were you expecting? Champagne?” Koke replied half-annoyed. “I don’t think you should drink alcohol after what happened earlier today.”

Antoine smiled because the doctor hadn’t mentioned any alcohol ban, but Koke’s overprotectiveness was all kinds of endearing. He walked to Koke and extended his arm to get his cup.

“Not yet.” Koke negated with his head, leaving both cups next to the jacuzzi. “You should get in there first.” He continued with a nice smile. “Let’s get rid of this!” His hands were tugging on Antoine’s T-shirt, Antoine smiled and lifted his arms, allowing Koke to take it off.

“I should ask Godin to hurt me more often if you’re going to treat me like this.” Antoine said with a cheeky smile. He could hear Koke sniggering while he was removing his shorts. Koke’s hands moved decidedly so Antoine didn’t get to enjoy much of his touch.

As soon as he was fully undressed, Koke grabbed him by the hand and leaded him to the jacuzzi, inviting him to enter it. Antoine placed one foot on the edge and tentatively dipped the tip of his toes on the bubbly water. The warm temperature elicited a pleased sound from his mouth. With Koke’s help he stepped into the jacuzzi and sat down. He was pretty sure Koke had used a bath bomb in the water because, despite the dim light, he could appreciate it had a purple tone and it smelled like lavender. Everything was thought for his relaxation, he purred like a cat.

“When are you going to join me?” Antoine asked turning around to face Koke, who was still wearing all of his clothes.

“Hold on, let me get something!” And with that he disappeared into the room. Antoine waited for him sipping on his cup. He would admit that some red wine or even a bit of champagne would make everything even more perfect, but he wasn’t going to complain at all.

Half a minute later Koke appeared again through the doorframe. The darkness in the room wasn’t helping Antoine, but he was pretty sure that Koke had already undressed and he was carrying some unidentified object on his right hand.

He deposited the object in a shelf next to the jacuzzi, and joined his boyfriend into the hot water. A blinding smile appeared on Antoine’s face, and he welcomed him with a sweet kiss.

“What’s that thing over there?” Antoine asked pointing at the shelf.

“I got it online, I hope you like it. Close your eyes!” Koke asked while standing up. The water ran down his toned body, highlighting his muscled ass. Antoine was pretty sure that he’d go straight to heaven for being able to close his eyes with such a delightful view in front of him, but he did it anyway.

The splashing sounds the water made were a hint good enough for him to know that Koke had submerged his body again. He felt Koke’s delicate fingers touching his face, drawing small circles on his round cheeks. His fingers now brushed away the wet hair out of Antoine’s forehead, combing it back. Antoine smiled shyly and that’s when Koke traced the outline of his lips, it felt so tingly that the smile led to a silent laugh, his white teeth illuminating the bathroom.

The next thing he could perceive was Koke’s nose caressing the side of his face down his jaw. Lips sucking tenderly on his neck, fingers supporting his nape. Antoine was happy of having his eyes closed, because whenever Koke did that kind of things to him, it was always a battle to keep them open.

Koke’s lips initiated a trip upwards, drawing Antoine’s jawline first, sucking playfully on his chin, and finally reaching the goal of his lips. The kiss started shy and slow, their lips fitting together perfectly like puzzle pieces. When Koke used his teeth to bite down on Antoine’s lower lip, Antoine opened his mouth to moan softly, and the tongue dance started. As the kiss deepened, Antoine placed his hands on Koke’s nape, to not lose track of his movements. Koke’s hand was on the side of Antoine’s face, guiding him. They broke the deep kiss for a second to breathe, Koke checked that Antoine’s eyes were still closed, and he noticed that his lips were showing one of the most beautiful smiles he had ever seen on him.

Antoine felt Koke’s forehead pressed against his own, their noses touching, and Koke’s accelerated breathing tickling his face. And then a sudden flash of light shook him off his happy place and he opened his eyes scared, to find Koke looking at him with an amused face, he was shaking a piece of paper between his fingers. On the other hand he was holding the not-anymore-unknown object.

“Is that a Polaroid camera?” Antoine asked raising an eyebrow.

“Yeah.” Koke said blowing a bit on air on the surface of the photo he had just taken. “I thought that we didn’t have many photos together, and we definitely don’t have any… you know, romantic photos. I’m pretty sure our phones aren’t the safest place to take them on, so this was just perfect.”

Antoine smiled at the explanation. The only ‘boyfriendy’ photo they had together was the one that was turned into a puzzle for Koke’s birthday, and they had quickly deleted that one just in case. Polaroids were an actually great idea. Koke had stopped shaking the photo and was looking at it with a huge smile on his face. He turned the photo around so Antoine could see it. They were face to face, foreheads pressed, Koke’s eyes fixed on Antoine’s peaceful smile. Koke’s lips were parted, waiting to attack hungrily Antoine’s.

“This is what I see whenever I’m about to kiss you. That face is the most beautiful view ever and I wanted to share it with you.” Koke said in a vulnerable tone. “That smile always makes my heart beat faster.”

Words couldn’t explain how Antoine felt in that moment. Koke had that ability to make him speechless with his heartfelt words. Antoine grabbed the photo and noticed how, indeed, his whole face was glowing. He also loved the intensity on Koke’s gaze, it actually sent chills down his spine. He left the photo carefully in the jacuzzi edge, far from the water to keep it safe, and then hugged Koke tightly, their chests pressed together almost sharing a heartbeat. He had snatched the camera from Koke’s hands before the hug, and then he took a photo of his face buried on Koke’s neck. Koke laughed silently and caressed Antoine’s back soothingly.

“How about I massage these tired muscles?” Koke offered, and Antoine replied by kissing his shoulder several times, then the area behind his ear, to end on his cheek. “I’ll take that as a ‘yes’.

They left the camera far from the water but on their hand reach, and Koke sat behind Antoine, kneading the flesh on his shoulders. Koke’s fingers digged on the muscles painfully at times, but left a sensation of relief that Antoine just could voice with deep moans. When Koke’s thumbs travelled down Antoine’s spine, he trembled and let out a hoarse ‘fuck’ which made Koke’s mouth go dry.

“Grizi, if you keep making these sounds we’re going to have a problem…” Koke warned, feeling his cock hardening with every noise Antoine emitted.

“I can’t help it!” Antoine’s voice turned high-pitched by the end of the sentence as Koke pressed one of the painful spots in his back.

As the massage advanced, the movements were less painful and more pleasuring. Antoine felt how his whole back was warm now and everything Koke did was terribly satisfying. Koke made a bowl with his hands and collected some water that he carried to Antoine’s nape, where he opened his hands making the warm water glide down his back.

The water tickling his skin made him let out a deep sigh which almost sounded like a groan. Koke repeated the motion but this time making the water fall from the top of Antoine’s head, causing tingles on his scalp. His whole body shivered and he purred in pleasure. And when Koke’s lips sucked on his soft skin without previous notice, the delighted moans were impossible to be held back. He impulsively turned around and kissed Koke hungrily.

“I hate that you can turn my whole body into jelly.” Antoine whispered between kisses. “I’m scared you have so much influence on me.”

“You know I use it for good.” Koke smiled reaching the camera and taking a photo of one of their kisses. Antoine smiled and stood up, inviting Koke to do the same.

Koke left the camera and the photo he had just taken on the shelf next to the jacuzzi and stepped out of it holding Antoine’s hand. He handed him a towel and both of them dried their bodies, when they were done, Antoine grabbed Koke’s hand again and lead him to the bedroom, asking him to sit on the edge of the bed. Koke obeyed as he looked confused, his doubts flew away as soon as he saw Antoine kneeling in front of him.

“Grizi, you don’t have to…” Koke explained, feeling Antoine’s palms on his thighs.

“Come on!” Antoine replied with a cheeky smile. “I could feel your hard cock digging into my skin during the whole massage, it was difficult to ignore it. Let me give it the attention it demands.” Koke didn’t say a word against it, because he was craving Antoine’s touch.

Antoine’s lips started spreading kisses on Koke’s inner thighs, making Koke’s erection to harden more. Koke kept himself busy controlling his breath and running his fingers through Antoine’s wet hair. Then Antoine wrapped his hand around the shaft and started moving it up and down really slowly. He reached to kiss Koke on the lips as he was working his boner. Koke’s kisses were sloppy and clumsy and that warmed Antoine’s heart.

The moment Antoine’s tongue licked the tìp of Koke’s cock, Koke left his weight fall on the mattress emitting a deep groan. Antoine looked at him with a funny face and went back pleasuring his boyfriend. His mouth engulfed Koke’s length expertly, increasing the intensity of the sucking on the sensitive tip. Koke’s abs were flexing, drawing their outline, and Antoine loved when it happened. He knew he was making all of Koke’s muscles tense up thanks to his skills. Koke looked down to Antoine’s red lips devouring his cock and the view was too much for him to remain silent.

“Make me cum!” He shouted without thinking, his hips bucking at the pleasure.

“I’m on it!” Antoine replied laughing, finding Koke’s sudden dirty-talk way too funny. “And you know what? I’m gonna swallow it all!” He announced, increasing the speed of his motions.

The sucking noises were driving Koke crazy and the hotness of Antoine’s mouth was almost too much for him. He almost felt the air in his lungs burning, escaping through his throat in the form of loud moans. His muscles tensed up and he had enough of a mind go back to the sitting position, to admire Antoine’s effort.

Antoine looked up with his shiny blue eyes, sparkling as much as his smile. He was licking Koke’s erection from the base to the tip in long lines, trying to slow down a bit before the grand finale. He saw Koke panting heavily, almost losing himself in his deep brown eyes. Antoine licked his lips and his hand on the base of Koke’s boner tightened the hold, making Koke gasp. Then he deepthroated Koke’s length, accompanying his mouth’s movements with his hand. The speed increased as Koke’s pants became more and more audible. When Antoine knew he was close, he placed his mouth in front of Koke’s tip and continued the stimulation with his hand, hearing how Koke was swearing out loud, not believing how incredible it was feeling.

Koke’s cock started releasing his load and when it reached Antoine’s mouth, he closed the gap to not miss any drop of his cum. Antoine’s hand was finishing Koke off as his hot mouth collected all the sperm. Koke’s vision was a bit clouded by the intense orgasm, but he could get himself together well enough to admire how Antoine’s throat was swallowing everything and his lips licking him clean, not leaving a trace of stickiness on his oversensitive member. Antoine looked at him with a cheeky smile, wiping some rests of cum from his lips with his index finger, and licking it completely clean, humming pleased in the process.

“How was it?” Antoine asked.

“Do I really need to reply to that?” Koke said breathlessly, his legs still trembling and his abs still clenching.

“No, but I like to hear it.” Antoine smiled standing up, his hips now at Koke’s head level, his cock was semi-hard after all the visual and auditive stimulation his boyfriend had gifted him.

“Do you need help with this?” Koke went to kiss Antoine’s cock sweetly.

“I do, but I can’t.” Antoine reminded him. “Not physical efforts, remember?” Using all of his self-control to decline Koke’s offer.

“I understand, I almost faint and I didn’t get any concussion today. You’re safer this way.” Koke reasoned crawling on the bed, sheltering under the soft duvet. He patted the empty space next to him. “But you’re still my King, so come here so I can continue pampering you.”

Antoine smiled, some cuddles wouldn’t hurt him.


	49. Chapter 49

It was time for another derby. Matches against Real Madrid were usually physically draining. They knew they had to do their best to obtain a good result against them, it wasn’t a matter of luck. It was also very mentally challenging because media usually reminded them at every given moment that one of the last times they had seen each other, Atleti had lost the UEFA Champions League final in a dramatic match. They used to forget that Atleti had recently eliminated Real Madrid from Copa del Rey, and that drove Koke crazy.

“Hey, why are you frowning?” Antoine looked to the other bed, where Koke was scrolling down his phone.

“Nothing…” Koke mumbled, his eyes focused on the screen.

Antoine smiled softly and got up, walking to his bed and sitting on the edge of the mattress. He caught Koke’s phone on his hand and deposited it on the bedside table. Koke protested but didn’t fight for his phone.

“Now. What happens?” Antoine asked, getting all of Koke’s attention.

“Remind me to not get into Twitter before a derby. That place is hell.” Koke sighed, Antoine smiled at him.

“Are you affected by the things Internet randos say? Gosh Kokito, I thought you were over that!” Antoine patted his knee with a funny expression.

“It’s not that! It’s not that I receive personal hate or anything. It’s how all the media seems to take any chance to make me think about the lost UCL final…” Koke frowned again, now with his eyes focused on the infinite.

“I see… We’ve never talked about it, and maybe this isn’t the best moment to do it, but how was losing that final?” Antoine crawled on the bed and sat next to Koke.

“We play tomorrow against Real Madrid and you really want me to go back to that?” Koke asked in disbelief.

“Only if it’s not a big problem for you…” Antoine continued. He assumed it was a very difficult moment in Koke’s career, but he wanted to hear about it. Koke shrugged his shoulders and accommodated his body on the mattress, facing Antoine.

“It actually felt pretty weird… like a dream. Or more like a nightmare. We had won La Liga only a few days earlier, which already felt unreal, so the whole week was more focused on recovering from the huge effort than on the final. The final arrived pretty quickly and we couldn’t almost prepare. We were so tired, but we knew it was just the final effort and that was it, so we gritted our teeth and did our best.” Koke explained, his voice sounding raspier than usual. “About the match you already know how it went. I swear to God my legs haven’t hurt that much as they hurt in that match. In any other match I would have asked to be subbed, but not in that final, not with my teammates cramping out of fatigue.”

“I guess those last minutes were hell.”

“They were. And when they scored the equalizer and the match went to the extra time, we knew we had lost it. They had been preparing that match for weeks, almost a month before us. As soon as they saw they had no chances of winning La Liga. So we tried to play that extra time with dignity, but our bodies couldn’t do much better than that.” Koke said, a lump forming on his throat.

“Did you cry?” Antoine asked, he didn’t really know why he was asking that, but the question left his lips at the speed of light.

“Right after the match I shed some tears in frustration.” Koke admitted, Antoine inched closer. “But then Simeone told us that we had a lot of reasons to be proud of, that we had won La Liga for the first time in eighteen years, and we had reached the club’s second UCL final in more than a hundred years. He told us that we were special and our heads had to be high, because the whole World was taking us as an example of hard work and beating all odds.”

“And I guess that helped, right?” Antoine asked throwing an arm around Koke’s shoulders. “If you ask me, I wanted you to win. I didn’t know I was going to sign for Atleti yet, but I felt like you deserved it.” Antoine confessed with a cute smile. Koke’s pecked Antoine’s lips softly, and then kissed his cheek.

“I bet you were like ‘oh that Koke guy is kinda cute, hope his team wins so he’s happy’.” Koke joked using a silly voice tone. Antoine rolled his eyes and blushed.

“I’ve always had a soft spot for you. We’ve not played against each other too much, but we had played enough for me to notice you.” Antoine combed his hair with his fingers nervously, looking at Koke through his eyelashes. 

“Oh really?” Koke raised an eyebrow. A smug grin appeared on his face. “I didn’t know I had a fan in you before!”

“Shut up!” Antoine laughed and kissed Koke playfully. “I just thought you were cute, and then I met you and I discovered that you were much more than that. I’m so happy I signed for Atleti, it has changed my life.” Antoine’s fingers caressed the side of Koke’s face, his blue eyes were sincere and they were piercing Koke’s. “And you know what? I’m gonna try my best to help you all forget about the sad moments by building happy ones!”

Antoine’s face was glowing despite the dim light of the hotel room, Koke felt his heart melting. Antoine was impossibly nice and incredibly helpful. Words failed to describe him.

“You’re already doing it.” Koke whispered caressing Antoine’s nose with his own. He got lost in the beauty of his eyes, then he lowered his gaze to Antoine’s awaiting lips. His tongue darted out shyly to wet them, and a faint smile appeared on them. Koke took it as an invitation. and he caressed them with his own lips, not kissing him yet. “So many happy moments together.”

As Koke’s words were pronounced, his lips touched Antoine’s lightly. Causing a million of electric tingles. Antoine let out a small giggle and licked again his lips to soothe the tickling. He was careful to shy away from Koke just enough to not touch his lips with his tongue. The teasing game was something that could be played by two.

“And so many more left to live. You don’t even know the plans I have for us...” Antoine muttered enigmatically with a serious face, that last ‘s’ resounding on the air.

 

The match was about to start.

They had the clear orders to not leave Real breathe by using a suffocating pressure on his midfielders. A few minutes into the game things were going to plan. Real Madrid couldn’t display their playing style, and Atleti was closer and closer to their goal.

Around the tenth minute Koke sprinted for a ball and quickly felt that something wasn’t going well. There was a muscle on his leg that was suddenly aching. He was in perfect condition until that game, and he had warmed up as usual, so it took him by surprise. He saw that he couldn’t run, and as much as he hated it, he did a sign to the bench telling them that he couldn’t continue. Simeone asked him twice and shook his head in despair. Koke knew that he was always one of the bases of Simeone’s system and not having him on the pitch, caused a huge setback to the team.

Antoine didn’t notice. He was so focused on the game that he didn’t see that Koke wasn’t in his position. What threw him off was to see Godín on the floor. He jogged to him to find blood on his face and his hand. One of the rival players had accidentally elbowed him in a corner kick and his nose was bleeding profusely. They called the doctors, who were hesitating by the technical area.

“Come on!” Antoine shouted, doing a sign with his hand seeking their attention. “What the hell! Why are they waiting so much?” Antoine exclaimed, worried by all the blood on Godin’s face. He crouched by Godin’s side. “Are you ok?”

“Yeah, maybe it’s broken, but I will live.” Diego said looking at his hand stained in red. “Why is this taking so long?” He asked in desperation.

“Koke is injured too.” Gabi said, kneeling next to them. “I’ll ask them to come to see you first, this looks urgent.” He announced standing up and whistling to the doctors, who initiated their race to Godin’s position

As soon as Gabi pronounced those words Antoine opened his eyes wide, he looked around to find him, and he was at the other side of the pitch, sitting on the ground by Real Madrid’s penalty box. He was chatting with Iker Casillas, his captain at the National Team. Everybody seemed to be more worried for Godin’s scandalous nose, than for Koke’s quiet injury.

“Go with him.” Diego said. “I’m fine.”

Antoine didn’t need to hear it twice to run to the other side of the pitch to join his boyfriend. He tried to play it cool as he couldn’t show more concern than the necessary in front of everybody. When Iker saw finally one of Koke’s teammates worrying about him, he silently walked away from there. Antoine crouched next to Koke.

“What happens?” Antoine asked with a concerned look.

“I’m broken.” Koke kept on touching the back part of his upper leg with a painful gesture. “It’s muscular, but I can’t carry on.” He said kicking himself for having to leave the match that early.

Antoine sighed and made an obvious sign to the bench to ask for a substitution that was already in the making. Saul was jumping and stretching as fast as he could next to Simeone, Godin was gaining some golden seconds for him to enter the pitch not completely cold. Antoine helped Koke to get up and accompanied him a few steps, whispering something into his ear.

“We’re winning this for you.”

He patted Koke’s back and ruffled his hair. Koke half-smiled through the pain, and left him behind, walking slowly towards the bench, listening the crowd’s ovation and his name being chanted. He thanked the fans and high-fived Saul leaving the pitch. He then shook his head towards Simeone, mouthing off a ‘sorry’. Simeone smiled and patted his back, and he joined the rest of his teammates on the bench. As soon as he sat, the doctors were already placing an ice bag and a bandage in the area.

Seems that he had to sit through the match in there, suffering like a fan more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For the first time I have absolutely nothing of the next chapter written yet, so I can't promise that I will have the full chapter for next Thursday ready, but you know I will try. xx


	50. Chapter 50

It was certainly a different point of view for him, he wasn’t used to watch games from that perspective. He was luckily one of Simeone’s key players, and he only benched him if he had to rest or if he was half-injured, and even that didn’t happen often.  
A match against Real Madrid, no less, and he couldn’t help. That was driving him crazy.

His negative feelings quickly disappeared when Tiago scored the first goal of the match. The Vicente Calderón was buzzing, and he was celebrating without moving his injured leg too much.  
It wasn’t late until Saúl was scoring the second goal which was an absolute work of art. He was so pleased as his friend didn’t have that many chances, and he had scored such a wonderful goal.

He couldn’t remember such a placid match against Real Madrid when the half-time arrived with the 2-0 in the scoreboard. He walked slowly to the locker room with the ice bag still bandaged to his thigh. When he got there his sweaty and tired teammates were arriving with shy smiles painted on their faces, he could tell that they didn’t want to relax yet because forty-five minutes left and a lot of things could happen.

One of the doctors approached Koke and started working on his leg as he saw how Antoine arrived and looked concerned at his leg. He sat beside him and admired how the man’s hands were working on Koke’s muscles.

“Is it bad?” Antoine asked, his huge blue eyes focused on Koke’s thigh.

“It’s early to tell, we will do a MRI in a couple of days to see the real damage, but it’s not a severe injury.” The doctor replied as he kept on working. Antoine smiled softly and looked up, his eyes finding Koke’s. Koke flashed a fake smile through the pain and Antoine wanted to say something to cheer him up, but Simeone’s voice resounded on the locker room and everybody went silent.

“Boys, be careful during the second half. It’s very easy to lose the concentration when everything is going so well, but we all know what kind of team we’re facing. I don’t want anybody relaxing or thinking that this is done. I want all your effort and intensity in the second half because we have to win this!” Simeone’s words penetrated on the players’ brains as they were trying to drink and eat a bit to recover their energy.

In a matter of seconds there were a choir of voices motivating the others. The sound of clapping filled the room, and they were completely ready for the second half. Their confidence was through the roof.

The players were heading to the exit, walking to the pitch. When the locker room was half-empty Koke turned to Antoine.

“Grizi, please, win this.” Koke said anxiously, walking cautiously.

“We’re going to win this.” Antoine replied winking. “And I’m going to score for you!” He said in a sweet tone and turned around quickly to check that there was nobody around. When he confirmed it, he looked at Koke and pecked his lips briefly, he broke the kiss and sniggered with a naughty expression. Koke rolled his eyes and patted his ass, cracking a smile.

Antoine ran towards the pitch while Koke walked slowly to the bench, licking his lips. His heart was racing, it was the first time they kissed in such an open and public place, they could have been discovered and that was a really scary thought for him, but on the other hand, it felt nice having Antoine that close at all moments. He could still taste him on his lips and that was a really warm sensation for him. He hoped for Antoine’s words to become true.

 

Even though Real Madrid looked a bit better in the second half, Atleti quickly recovered the handle of the match. Koke was amazed at how well his teammates were dealing with such a difficult match. They didn’t look nervous at all, and it was like they didn’t have any kind of pressure. They were just having fun, enjoying the amazing atmosphere and the fans’ ovations.

After a few minutes Saul assisted Antoine for the third goal of the night. The joy explosion in the stadium was undescriptible, only interrupted by Saul’s obvious pain gestures. He had twisted his knee during the assist and everybody panicked for him, he was screaming so much and as soon as Antoine noticed, he stopped celebrating and went to check Saul’s condition. The doctors ran towards him and the rest of the players walked to their place to re-start the game.

When Antoine was passing by the bench he looked at it and flashed a wide smile, Koke just knew it was for him. He shook his fist and Antoine replied doing the same. Koke shook his head, of course Antoine was going to fulfill his promise.

The match had turned into a party, the fans were chanting all the players’ names, the team was playing delightfully, Saul’s injury didn’t seem serious, and for once, Cholo was relaxed. He thought it’d be a good moment to give a break to some of the players. And with the 3-0 in the scoreboard he decided Antoine deserved that rest and also hearing the ovation of a stadium who had fallen in love with him.

He left the pitch applauding the fans, and then shaking hands with Cholo. Everybody on the bench congratulated for his great match, and he received a coat and a water bottle. He didn’t think it twice and sat next to Koke, who received him with a wide smile, in the second row of seats.

“You did it!” Koke said enthusiastically, patting his knee.

Antoine sipped a bit of water and swallowed slowly. He was still panting after the great effort and he was trying to recover his normal breathing pattern. With a smug smile he dried off the sweat on his forehead, and instead of putting his coat on, he used it as a blanket, strategically covering his legs and one of Koke’s legs. He then reclined on the seat and patted Koke’s leg twice. Koke looked down and saw how Antoine’s hand on his leg was hidden to the public eye, and he directed his own hand to the same spot, his fingers finding Antoine’s and intertwining them together. Antoine squeezed Koke’s palm looking at the match that was still being played.

“All for you!” Antoine muttered, caressing Koke’s hand.

Koke admired his profile while Antoine pretended to be focused on the match. Antoine felt Koke’s eyes on him and couldn’t help but smiling, his round cheeks blushing and heating up. Koke couldn’t take his eyes off him. There was some special glow on Antoine’s face that was magnetic. He appreciated his eyelashes fluttering, some sweat drops racing down his face, and those rosy cheeks glowing proud.

“Kokito, you’re staring.” A low voice shook Koke off, he had forgotten for a second where he was and what was he doing. Thank goodness Saul, who have been subbed off after his injury, was right beside him, an ice-pack on his knee, and a shit-eating grin on his face. He had had enough of a mind to cover his mouth with his hand, as he knew there were cameras all the time recording the bench.

Koke reacted like a kid when he’s got caught doing something naughty, and then he pressed his back firmly against the seat and focused on the match with a serious face. He could hear Antoine and Saul’s giggles and he felt his face was burning. Luckily for him, Torres and Mandzukic created the fourth goal of the match and he stopped being the center of attention.

Only a few minutes later the final whistle determined the end of the match, the fans went crazy and the players thanked their support. Winning against Real Madrid was always a big deal, but beating them 4-0 was a complete different universe.

The locker room was a party, everybody felt so proud of themselves, Simeone shared a few words with the team, and was grateful for their effort. A few players decided to have dinner together to celebrate the result.

“Grizi! Are you coming?” Godin asked. Antoine looked at Koke who was sitting beside him, putting his street clothes on with difficulty because of his injury.

“Thanks, but I think I’ll drive these two home!” He said pointing at Koke and Saul. Saul raised an eyebrow surprised, as he hadn’t asked for any kind of help, but shrugged his shoulders and welcomed Antoine’s generous invitation. After all, he was pretty sure he couldn’t drive with that swollen knee.

"I didn't know you drive ambulances now!" Godin joked accepting Antoine’s excuse. He wished them a nice evening, and turned around to plan with Gabi the details of the dinner. Koke smiled shyly, and thanked Antoine’s mental speed. He loved his teammates but the last thing he wanted that day was going out. His leg was sore and he just wanted to cuddle with Antoine the rest of the day to celebrate the result.

 

“I trust you.” Koke gave Antoine his car keys while he was fastening his seatbelt. “Don’t let me down.”

“When have I ever let you down?” Antoine asked, adjusting the car’s mirrors.

“Never.” Koke replied with a wide smile. “You better don't change the trend.”

“Guys… Could you stop pretending you’re alone?” Saúl said from the backseat. “I’m feeling left out!” Antoine giggled and Koke rolled his eyes. It felt like having an attention-demanding child on the backseat.

“I’m sorry.” Koke said with a tone that denoted how not sorry he was.

“It’s ok, as long as this French fry drives me home in one piece, I don’t care if you ignore me.” Saul poked at Antoine’s shoulder and Antoine opened his mouth to protest, but quickly decided against it. He knew Saul loved the banter and he never got tired of it.

Antoine started the engine, and drove past some fans waiting outside the stadium. As soon as they were in the road, Saul broke the silence again.

“So… How are things going?” He asked. “I swear I’m not nosy, but I’m just wondering.” His words sounded sincere.

“Things are great Saulito, thanks for your concern.” Antoine answered, quickly glancing through one of the mirrors to find Saul smiling softly.

“I’m glad to hear that. So, have you told more people?”

“Not that many.” Koke confessed. “We've told Borja.”

“I’m sure he supports you, Borja is great. How have your parents reacted?” Saul asked leaning and placing his head between the two front seats.

“Well, the thing is that I’ve not told them yet.” Koke shrugged his shoulders pretending it wasn’t a big deal for him.

“Can I ask why?” Saul raised an eyebrow.

“You can. I can choose not to reply.” Koke blurted out.

“Koke…” Antoine used a warning tone, almost asking him to not be rude to Saul who was only trying to be nice.

“It’s ok, if he doesn’t feel comfortable talking about it…” Saul pressed his back against his seat, folding his arms across his chest and looking through the window. They were arriving to their destiny.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t want to be that harsh. It’s just that I’m scared to tell them and it’s stressing me out.” Koke’s voice sounded so vulnerable, it made Saul to lean again, this time placing his hand on his shoulder.

“Koke, I know your parents. They’re going to support you, they’ve always done, they always will. Trust them!” The reassuring tone Saul was using made Antoine smile.

“How are you so sure?” Koke asked raising both his eyebrows.

“Because they’ve always done everything to help you, and you know it. They can’t be mad at you for falling in love!”

Antoine smiled again, he loved how easy it was for Saul, it was obvious that he wasn’t living Koke’s doubts daily, all his fears and struggles. Anyway he was happy of his blatant optimism, as it could help Koke to feel more confident. And deep inside, he shared Saul’s opinion, he didn’t know Koke’s parents that much, but he was pretty sure that everything was going to be fine.

“I hope you’re right.” Koke muttered as Antoine parked the car outside Saul’s home. Saul thanked them and closed the door behind him. “Ok, what now?” Koke asked.

“Now we celebrate.” Antoine winked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Late update and the next one will be probably late too as I'm super busy right now. I will try to update next Sunday but I can't promise anything. Have a nice week!


	51. Chapter 3651

As soon as they entered Antoine’s house, Koke went directly to the living room. He wasn’t tired, but he knew he had to rest his leg as much as he could. He didn’t know how severe his injury was yet, so he wanted to be cautious. Antoine disappeared through the corridors with the excuse that he wanted to change into some more comfortable clothes.

A few minutes later Antoine joined him wearing a baggy shirt and blue shorts. He walked towards Koke and left something in the coffee table, then he kneeled next to the sofa, in front of Koke’s face.

“Do you need something? Water? Food? Cuddles?” Antoine asked with a cute expression.

“Cuddles.” Koke replied, moving his body to grant some space to Antoine. Antoine smiled and accepted his petition, snuggling in his chest. Koke planted a kiss on top of his head and furrowed his brows looking at the things Antoine had left on the table.

One of them was a capsule-shaped object, a bit shorter than his thumb and not very thick, it had attached some kind of string in one of its ends. The other one was a small square with a blue button on it. Koke stared at the unknown objects trying to figure out what they were, but nothing was coming into his mind. The fact that Antoine keep on tickling his belly under his clothes, wasn’t helping too much either with his concentration.

“Grizi, what’s that?” Koke finally asked, causing Antoine to abandon the warmth of his chest.

“Oh, that!” He said half-surprised. “It’s just a little something I bought recently and I wanted to show you. Press the button!” 

Koke reached the edge of the table and held the little square on his hand. He pressed the blue button and the other object started vibrating, tinkling against the table’s crystal. Koke kept on looking at it, imagining the uses for it.

“Oh!” He exclaimed out loud, causing Antoine to giggle. “Oh!” He said again, blushing this time.

“I call it the ‘fun bullet’ but I’m terrible at naming things.” He continued, still chuckling. “I guess you can imagine how it works.”

“I can, thank you very much.” Koke replied with his eyebrows raised. 

“Here, this is for you!” Antoine reached his pocket and took off a similar remote control to the one Koke was holding. Koke left his on the table and grabbed the one Antoine was offering to him. He looked at the exact duplicate and looked confused at Antoine. Wordlessly he pressed the button. The vibrator on the table didn’t react.

“It’s not working!” Koke said looking at the button and pressing it repeatedly. 

“Stop! You’re going to break it!” Antoine demanded. Koke stopped on his tracks. “Press it just once.” Koke obeyed and did it as Antoine asked.

“Still nothing.” He announced looking at the vibrator on the table, behind Antoine.

“That’s what you think.” Antoine laughed softly and kissed Koke deeply, his hands cupping his cheeks. 

Their tongues started dancing together, Koke’s hands sneaking under Antoine’s shirt, and placing them on the small of his back, pressing him closer. Koke broke the kiss.

“What do you mean?” He stared at Antoine’s blissful face, his cheeks turning red. 

Antoine didn’t answer, he decided to bury his face on Koke’s neck, kissing his Adam’s apple. Koke could still hear his muffled giggling, his laugh vibrating against his throat. He raised an eyebrow and pressed the button of the remote control he was still holding. A protesting sound emerged from Antoine’s lips. Koke rolled his eyes and pressed the button again, making Antoine to continue with the kissing. He got it.

“What am I going to do with you?” Koke said laughing, accompanying his words by pressing Antoine even closer to his body. He could feel how Antoine was getting hard already. “You don’t even need me anymore.” He noted joking.

“Nothing has been invented yet that can make me feel the way you do.” Antoine looked intensely into Koke’s eyes. Koke reached Antoine’s face and caressed his cheek with a smile on his face.

“Phew!” Koke exclaimed with a dorky face. Antoine cracked a smile and started kissing his lips sweetly, giggling at his expression.

“Listen.” Antoine announced grabbing the remote control in Koke’s hand and switching the vibrator off. “If my toys make you feel awkward, or uncomfortable, I will keep them in that locked box. I always see them as a source of fun but I don’t need them because I have you.”

“Ok.” Koke replied briefly, grabbing the control and pressing the button again, switching the toy on. “I’m up for fun things.” He continued attacking Antoine’s neck with his mouth, causing Antoine to chuckle. 

Koke left the remote control on the table, next to the other vibrator set, and used his hands to lower Antoine’s shorts and underwear, exposing his bare ass. He kneaded it, enjoying the soft and delicate skin there. A few encouraging words left Antoine’s lips, and Koke continued caressing his sensitive area, his lips still trapped on Antoine’s throat. Antoine, meanwhile, tried to reach Koke’s groin, but the proximity of their bodies made it a hard task. Koke, with his hands, was making their growing bulges rub, so Antoine just moved one of his legs to tangle it behind one of Koke’s legs, increasing the pressure. He buckled his hips making Koke gasp. 

Antoine couldn’t ignore the sweet vibration inside of him, producing a wave of pleasure invading all his lower body. Heat was concentrating on his body, and his cock was getting harder and harder. He let out a sonorous moan, and he suddenly pushed Koke away, his boyfriend looking concerned at him. Antoine got up and with a swift motion, all his clothes started flying through the room. His naked body was now dissipating all that uncomfortable heat. 

He licked the palm of his hand and reached his erection, grabbed it, and began with some lazy strokes, not breaking the eye contact with Koke, who was palming his through his clothes. Koke sat up on the edge of the seat, and opened his legs, inviting Antoine to occupy that space. Antoine accepted the invitation and stood there in front of Koke, his fingers playing with his hair, Koke’s hand running up and down his thighs teasingly. His boner was right at Koke’s head height, and it was a matter of seconds until his boyfriend was paying attention to his hardness. 

“Oh my!” Antoine shouted, overwhelmed by the sudden heat of Koke’s mouth engulfing his cock, the endless vibration had all his nerves on fire, so every little source of stimulation felt the most intense. He observed in awe how expertly Koke worked on his hard flesh, how it disappeared almost completely into his mouth, and how it appeared back glowing. 

His grab of Koke’s locks intensified, hoping to not cause any pain on his boyfriend’s scalp. Koke directed his hands to Antoine’s ass cheeks, and guided his hips in and out his mouth. After a while he withdrew completely the hot member and started playing with it. Sucking on different spots, his lips turning red and matching his cheeks. Koke gazed up and smiled to Antoine, who was having trouble to keep his eyes open. 

“It’s getting hot in here!” Koke said fanning himself with his hand. He took off his shirt and threw it over his head. Antoine leaned down and kissed him on the lips, moaning softly as his body couldn’t catch a break, his little toy wouldn’t allow it. He rested his forearms on Koke’s shoulders and went to kiss his jaw, coming closer to his ear.

“My legs are shaking.” He confessed in a broken whisper. He could feel Koke’s hands caressing soothingly his thighs to confirm it.

“Come here!” Koke moved his body a bit closer to the backboard of the sofa and grabbed Antoine by his waist, making him straddle his lap. “How close you are?” Koke asked, hesitating to hold Antoine’s erection. 

Antoine smirked and guided Koke’s hand to his boner, accompanying him on the first strokes. When Koke had secured a pace, he focused on breathing deeply, to make himself last longer, if that was even possible.

“Stunning.” Koke muttered loudly enough to make Antoine open his eyes and blush all in a matter of seconds. He always felt vulnerable whenever Koke was sweet to him, which was quite often, but he hadn’t got used to it yet. Koke seemed surprised to have voiced his thoughts out loud, so he blushed as well, matching Antoine’s flushed face.

His accelerated heartbeat was shaking his body, so Antoine decided to hug Koke’s neck, shooting his loud moans directly into his ear. Koke got the message and accelerated the pace, using his free hand to reach one of Antoine’s hands on his neck, untangle it, and grab it with his own, intertwining their fingers together. Antoine thanked that extra bit of support, because he was close to the edge, and he knew he would need it. 

Koke moved his head to the side, searching Antoine’s face, when Antoine noticed, he turned his head to peck Koke’s lips. Koke received on his wet lips all of Antoine’s deep panting, warming his face up. He knew Antoine was probably far too gone to share some kisses, but he didn’t care as he loved to breath the air that was coming out of his lungs. It smelled exactly like Antoine’s kisses tasted, so it was good enough for him. 

There was a moment when Antoine’s fingers were digging so hard into his nape, that it almost hurt. His moans had turned more subtle but somehow deeper. Koke knew he was running out of energy, and he was focusing on the double stimulation he was receiving. He was actually surprised at how long it was taking him to come when he was so clearly aroused. He couldn’t even imagine how much his cock was aching. Koke’s hand increased the pressure on the lubricated shaft and that shook Antoine off his silent state. A raw grunt escaped his lips, and his whole body started trembling. 

A series of guttural sounds completed the symphony, and Antoine was emptying all his load on Koke’s chest and abs. Koke enjoyed the warm sensation and decided to ignore the stickiness, just paying attention to how Antoine’s body was spasming, and how much pleasure he was experiencing. He slowed down the pace, riding Antoine’s orgasm off. His other hand being violently squeezed by Antoine, lost in his blissful state.

Despite of Koke having stopped completely, Antoine kept on spasming and almost screaming in pleasure. Koke then reminded that the vibrator was probably still working wonders inside of him. Antoine left his body fall dramatically on the sofa, and squirmed still feeling the incredibly satisfying yet painful orgasm. A part of him wanted to stop, the other wanted the sensation to continue forever, but he was afraid to faint, especially after playing a whole football match. 

“Make it stop!” Antoine demanded, his muscles clenching and some even cramping. 

Koke looked at him amused, almost hypnotized. That pleasure looked so next-level to him, he was positively sure he had never felt anything like that before. He couldn’t help staring with his mouth hanging open, how Antoine’s body seemed to move at its own will, and how Antoine’s brain was completely disconnected. He could see how Antoine’s cock was spurting a new smaller load, his cum landing all over the place as he couldn’t stop shaking. 

“Stop!” Antoine shouted in a pleading tone. Koke shook his head and broke the spell, reaching urgently the remote control, and pressing the button. He turned around and saw how Antoine was still trembling, his breathing heavy and his face completely flushed.

“Did it work?” He asked concerned. Kneeling beside Antoine.

Antoine didn’t answer, but his deep breathing was turning calmer, and his muscles were progressively going back to normality. Koke saw how there were traces of dry tears on his face, and he was surprised as he didn’t know one could reach such a state in which the intense pleasure could make you cry like that. He caressed the paths with his fingers, while Antoine was recovering his conscience. He had his eyes open, but he probably hadn’t registered that Koke was right there with him yet.

“I’m sorry it took me so long. I didn’t know you were uncomfortable.” Koke apologized. He grabbed a blanket and joined Antoine. Covering his bare and exhausted frame and snuggling next to it. Antoine was breathing deeply, his blue eyes still looking lost, but he placed his hands on Koke’s chest and buried his face on it. Koke could still feel the tingly feeling his breathing caused on his naked torso. “I guess you can’t talk. Let’s nap, ok?” Koke suggested kissing the top of Antoine’s head. 

Antoine’s voice was lost somewhere in between his brain and his throat, but he felt Koke’s accelerated heart beating against his cheek and he couldn’t help kissing that spot right there. Koke smiled when he felt the warmth of his lips.

“Me too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When in doubt, write smut, I guess. Hope you don't mind the lack of action, but I'm setting things up for the following chapters and I need this little break in the story.
> 
> I will try to update at the end of this week. Take care!


	52. Chapter 52

Antoine opened his eyes slowly to discover that it was very dark outside, he blinked a few times heavily and looked at his naked wrist. His phone was nowhere to be seen, and the room wasn’t illuminated enough to see the wall clock. He didn’t know for how long he had been sleeping, but his nap had felt quite restorative. He peeked under the blanket to confirm that he was still naked, and he smiled remembering the last couple of hours.

“Hey, you’re awake!” Koke said in a cheerful tone, switching on a lamp and sitting next to Antoine’s body. He leaned down to kiss his forehead. “How are you?”

Antoine stretched his arms, cracking some fingers in the process. He yawned and sat up to hug Koke. The blanket slid down his torso and rested on his lap. Koke completed the hug rubbing his back.

“Be careful, I don’t want you to catch a cold.” Koke kissed his cheek and grabbed the corner of the blanket, trying to wrap it around Antoine’s frame. Antoine pushed his hand away and held the edge of the blanket, throwing it over his head, and covering all his backside. Now all the frontside of his naked body was completely on display. Koke giggled. “I don’t think that solution is good enough.”

“Yeah, you’re right!” Antoine nodded, and in a swift movement, he straddled Koke’s lap pressing all his bare body to Koke’s chest, wrapping the blanket around their bodies. “Better.” He muttered burying his face on Koke’s neck and kissing it slowly.

“Wow.” Koke let out, surprised. He rested his hands on both sides of Antoine’s waist and caressed the soft skin with his thumbs. “I don’t know how you always have energy for everything.”

Antoine emitted a soft laugh, and continued nibbling Koke’s skin. When Koke was expecting it less, he sucked intensely, leaving a bruise on Koke’s neck. His boyfriend protested, and Antoine looked at him face to face with a funny expression.

“What? You’re injured, so you’re not going to train with us for a few days, nobody will notice!” He smiled innocently and released one of the blanket tips to draw circles on Koke’s chest with his index finger. “I was missing marking you.” He said shyly fluttering his eyelashes.

Koke thought that he was playing dirty, he couldn’t resist that look. He rolled his eyes and sighed deeply, pressing his forehead against Antoine’s chest.

“What am I going to do with you?” He faked a frustrated tone. Antoine laughed and kissed the top of his head.

“By the way!” Antoine shook him off. “I didn’t take the thing off. Where’s the remote control?”

“The thing.” Koke repeated laughing. He pointed to the coffee table, where both remotes were placed. Antoine turned around and took one, switched it on and felt the vibration inside of him. He quickly switched it off. He noticed that the other vibrator was missing.

“Hmmm we must have knocked it down earlier.” He said out loud grabbing the second remote control. He dismounted Koke and lazily looked around. He kneeled on the ground and checked under the sofa. “We have to vacuum this more often!” He yelled and Koke snorted. Antoine pressed the button but he couldn’t hear the vibration.

“Why are you so worried?”

“Hush! I can’t hear it!” Antoine kept on looking for his toy everywhere. He didn’t know how funny he looked doing it completely naked. “What if my family comes to visit me? I don’t want my Mom to sit down on the sofa and suddenly feeling something weird under her weight. I would be so mortified!” He explained, switching the vibrator off.

“Don’t worry anymore, it’s on a safe place.” Koke assured.

“Oh, so you know where it is!” Antoine exclaimed, coming back to his boyfriend’s lap, taking cover under the fluffy blanket, the room felt too cold for his likes. “And where is it?” He raised an eyebrow waiting for Koke’s answer. Koke only smiled lovingly at him, not saying a word. “Dork!” He exclaimed, kissing Koke’s lips softly.

Antoine’s hands surrounded Koke’s neck and he accidentally pressed the button again, switching the lost vibrator on. A deep sigh from Koke’s throat interrupted their kiss. Antoine stopped on his tracks, and pressed the button again. He looked at Koke furrowing his brows, Koke blushed and broke the intense eye contact.

“Kokito, look at me…” Antoine asked in a nice tone and Koke obeyed. After staring at him for a few seconds, he switched the vibrator on noticing a brief change of expression on Koke’s face. He repeated the process a couple of times, just for his own amusement, Koke’s face turning more and more flushed. “Did you…”

“I wanted to try something new.” Koke explained in a vulnerable tone, feeling the tingly sensation in all his lower body. “And you looked so delighted earlier that I…”

“Oh my gosh, I think I’m getting hard just by thinking about it!” Antoine blurted out with a funny face.

“Grizi!” Koke called him out, feeling his cheeks burning. “Switch it off for a moment, I can’t concentrate on talking.”

“Ok.” Antoine obeyed. “Do you like how it feels?” He asked, combing Koke’s hair with his fingers.

“It feels a bit weird.” Koke nodded. “But it’s pleasant. And it’s so small that it doesn’t hurt or anything.”

Antoine smiled softly. He knew pain was one of the things that worried Koke the most about sex. He was afraid of the unknown and he had thought the unknown would hurt, he was so pleased to see that he was busting all those myths by himself, which probably was the best way to do it.

“So… what do we do?” Antoine rubbed his nose against Koke’s, waiting for his boyfriend’s decision.

Koke held Antoine’s hand and pressed the button. Antoine flashed a wide smile and got lost on Koke’s eyes. The hazelnut colour was adorned with a special spark. Antoine had not seen it very often, but he knew that whenever he saw it, something good was about to happen.

“Let’s have fun!” Koke whispered, searching Antoine’s awaiting lips. He couldn’t ignore the vibration inside of him. The unfamiliar sensation was quite interesting, he felt waves of pleasure hitting his body, his cock was slowly hardening, and his heart started to race.

“Like a wise man said: ‘I’m up for fun things!’” Antoine joked, quoting Koke. He released the blanket feeling the soft fabric gliding down his back, sending shivers down his spine. “I love you.” Antoine muttered before kissing Koke sweetly, his hands roaming all over Koke’s upper body.

Koke felt a choked ‘I love you’ on his throat, Antoine was taking his breath away, and his body was starting to send blood down below. He knew Antoine would forgive his sudden silence. He started to feel his groin quite restricted under Antoine’s weight, but he ignored it and decided to focus on Antoine’s dedicated kisses. The way he used his tongue was undescriptible, and for Koke it was difficult to understand how after so many months, those kisses still caused chaos inside of him.

Antoine was so lost into the kiss that he didn’t notice Koke’s arms hugging his waist so tightly that he was almost leaving red marks on his skin. Just when he had difficulty breathing, he discovered that his body was almost crushed by Koke’s enthusiasm, he loved when Koke was so carried away, it happened to him on the pitch as well, and even sometimes their own teammates had jokingly complained about how destructive his hugs were.

When they broke the kiss, Antoine looked at Koke panting heavily, he enjoyed how red Koke’s lips looked, and he assumed that his lips were equally coloured. Antoine switched Koke’s vibrator off, causing Koke to protest evidently. He giggled and stared at Koke’s face with a cheeky smile. Right when Koke was about to ask him what on Earth he was doing, Antoine started rotating his hips, rubbing Koke’s growing bulge.

“Do you think I’m gonna leave some inanimate object to steal my show?” He asked seductively, guiding Koke’s hands to his ass cheeks. When Koke started kneading his flesh, he nodded. “Good boy!” Then he lowered one of his hands and grabbed his cock, stroking it lazily in front of Koke’s hungry eyes, Antoine was secretly enjoying how Koke was having trouble to close his mouth, completely overwhelmed by Antoine’s fierceness.

Antoine started moaning loudly, trying to arouse Koke more, if that was even possible. He even leaned his head back, knowing that Koke loved that movement. Right when he was expecting less, Koke had held him by the waist and had changed their position in a matter of seconds. Now Antoine was lying on his back on the sofa, with Koke on top of him. Koke had taken control of Antoine’s cock and was stroking him quickly. His mouth was all over his neck, sucking incessantly. He appreciated Koke’s passion, but if he continued like that, the fun would be over quite quickly.

“Take off your clothes. I wanna suck you off!” Antoine announced between gritted teeth, holding back the moans.

“No!” Koke snapped back surprising Antoine. He reached his groin and took his hard cock off his shorts. He pressed his member against Antoine’s and rubbed them together, continuing the bruising kisses. “Switch it on!”

Antoine was shocked at Koke’s sudden bossiness, but he was excited to see him taking control, that could only mean that he felt really comfortable in that situation and that was something that made Antoine feel at peace. He, of course, followed Koke’s demand and switched the vibrator on, and as soon as he did, Koke emitted a deep groan and thrusted his hips intensely, increasing the pressure on Antoine’s cock. Antoine gasped at the delightful rush of pleasure and Koke giggled.

“You were right, this is so much fun.” Koke whispered slowing down the pace of his body, trying to get Antoine’s attention. “Is the real thing like this?” He questioned with a trace of doubt.

“The real thing?” Antoine asked back, quite distracted by the physical action. Koke’s naked body was rubbing against his so he was positively sure it wasn’t a good moment for questions. He looked at Koke trying to understand the context, but he only found out his boyfriend avoiding the eye contact.

“Nevermind.” He muttered, resting his chin on Antoine’s shoulder.

“Kokito…” Antoine grabbed Koke’s face with his hands and forced him to look at him in the eye. “Come on, tell me. You know you can ask me whatever you want!”

“No! It’s embarrassing!” He said closing his eyes, feeling his cheeks burn.

“What’s embarrassing?” Antoine asked confused, rubbing Koke’s face with his thumbs.

“My ignorance. My ignorance is embarrassing!” Koke finally opened his eyes. He had stopped with the thrusts and looked at Antoine in silence. Antoine nodded and switched off the vibrator, understanding that it wasn’t the moment, and left the remote by the sofa’s cushion.

“I think we’ve talked about this before. Asking stuff is never a reason to feel embarrassed. There’s no question you can ask me that can make me feel uncomfortable, and you shouldn’t be ashamed of not knowing things.” Antoine explained with a very serious face. “I actually love when you ask me to help you with your doubts because it makes me feel closer to you.”

Koke furrowed his brows and showed half a smile. He kissed Antoine’s cheek and then he bit down his lower lip, he was hesitating, but he was looking forward to know the answer.

“Sex... Anal sex. Is it like this?” His vulnerable face completed the soft tone he used. His body was still lying on top of Antoine’s, their hardness pressed together. It wasn’t the most comfortable position possible, but it was intimate and close enough to fit the question.

“Oh.” Antoine exclaimed softly, kicking himself for not having understood the question at the first chance, it was so obvious he meant that, but he was too distracted to notice. “It actually feels pretty different.” He cleared his throat and let his hands fall to Koke’s waist. “You feel pleasure with the vibrator because it stimulates your sweet spot, and that’s something you also get with the penetration, but it’s a completely different feeling. I’d dare to say that anal sex somehow feels more intrusive, but at the same time it feels better because it’s warm and strong, and you can control the pace, the depth, the angle... which is also quite amazing. And I’m only talking about, you know, physical reactions, but the emotion of having the person you love causing all those incredible feelings, overtakes whatever your body may be experiencing physically.“ He explained roaming his hands over Koke’s back soothingly.

“Well I guess it’s like the difference I feel when you stroke me versus when I do it myself. It feels ten times more pleasurable because it’s you.” Koke’s voice sounded sweet, and his eyes looked less worried after Antoine’s explanation.

“I guess.” Antoine blushed a bit. “So maybe you can feel a lot of pleasure with the toy but then not really liking anal sex because it feels uncomfortable to you, or the other way around, maybe you don’t enjoy toys because you feel they’re cold and prefer the real deal, like I do.” Antoine winked clumsily to Koke, making him laugh.

“Ok, I get it. Just one question more before we carry on…” Koke glanced down quickly, feeling impossible to ignore his aching boner. “You have already explained to me how’s having someone inside of you but… How does it feel to have your cock inside someone’s ass?”

Antoine smiled at Koke’s genuine question and without breaking eye contact, he raised one of his hands to his mouth, licked the palm, and then lowered it, wrapping Koke’s erection quite tightly. He then repeated the process with the other hand, and when Koke’s cock was completely covered by Antoine’s hands, he started a very slow and tight stroking, increasing the pressure as much as he could. Koke panted heavily, having trouble to keep his eyes open.

“It feels hot and intense, almost overwhelming. And when you think you can’t take the heat and the pressure anymore, when you feel your cock almost bursting, then everything starts going smoothly and your cock moves in and out easily, and you pretty much lose your mind.” Antoine wasn’t sure Koke was following his explanation because he was diverting his attention quite a lot. Koke’s gasps became more and more audible, growing as Antoine’s hands were increasing the stimulation.

“So you would like to fuck me?” Koke asked lost in his thoughts.

Koke’s question shook Antoine. He had actually never thought about the possibility of fucking Koke. As Koke was inexperienced, it would probably be too much for him, so he always assumed that it’d be Koke the one topping. Antoine also liked being a bottom way too much, but he never closed doors to himself and his possibilities in bed.

“I would like to do whatever you want to do, whenever you’re ready to do it.” He guessed to say setting Koke’s cock free and regaining control of the remote. He pressed the button switching it on and smiled cheekily at Koke. “By the way, this is the first time in my life I maintain a serious conversation with a boner, you’re discovering new worlds to me!” He joked grabbing Koke’s ass cheeks and guided his hips. Koke’s erection was digging into his skin, impossibly hard and wet.

Koke choked a laugh when his own weight trapped their boners together. His hot flesh caressed Antoine’s and he felt all his nerves on fire. The incessant vibration echoed in all his lower body, and he was happy to see that his leg injury wasn’t limiting him at all.

“I’m close.” Koke confessed into Antoine’s ear.

Antoine offered him the remote control so he could stop it whenever he felt he had had enough. Koke smiled and sat on Antoine’s lower abs, he fit Antoine’s boner between his ass cheeks, and waited patiently for the vibrator to send him over the edge. Antoine admired him in awe, caressing his thighs and enjoying the warm sensation around his cock. He gasped whenever Koke moved up and down, rubbing his flesh.

After a minute or two, Koke’s untouched cock started releasing his cum on Antoine’s chest, Koke started clenching all his muscles, trapping Antoine’s cock even more tightly, his moans were loud and raw, and even though he had emptied his load, he tried to last a bit longer, testing how much his body could take. In the process, he kept on spasming, granting Antoine with a show he was truly enjoying. Koke’s hands were behind his body, holding Antoine’s cock in position, so even if he started shaking too much, all his motions would be directed towards Antoine’s erection.

The dryness of Antoine’s mouth contrasted with the wetness in the rest of his body. Sweat was pearling his skin and the traces of Koke’s orgasm remained on his torso. He was restricted under Koke’s weight and in some moments he even had trouble breathing, but he was admiring how far Koke was lasting just to pleasure him. He knew for a fact that Koke was in that point in which the bliss leaded to pain, as his scrunched face gave it away. Anyway Koke knew better than himself how much he could take, so he wasn’t going to question his boyfriend’s effort.

“Off!” Koke said out of breath, feeling a bit dizzy. Antoine understood and switched the vibrator off, giving him a break. Koke sighed and smiled shyly, rested his palms on Antoine’s lower abs and looked at him, still panting heavily.

Antoine propped himself up on his elbows and searched Koke’s lips, expecting for it to calm the dry feeling on his own mouth. Koke accepted the invitation, despite of his heavy breathing, and kissed him passionately. Antoine was savouring Koke’s sweet tongue when he suddenly noticed a rush of pleasure from his groin. Koke had restarted his motions and was stroking Antoine’s cock with his ass cheeks. He placed one of his hands on Antoine’s nape, and the other one was holding his boner in place, he laughed cheekily at Antoine and clenched his muscles as much as he could.

Deep groans were the only sound Antoine could emit. One of his arms was still holding his posture, but the other one went to wrap Koke’s waist in case the other failed.

“I was going to ask you if it feels good but I think I don’t need an answer.” Koke joked increasing the pace. He also kissed Antoine on his forehead, smelling his hair’s scent. Antoine’s fingers were digging on his skin, and his groans were turning into gasps. Soon Koke could perceive a familiar warmness in his lower back. “Oh yeah, well done.” He celebrated kissing Antoine’s temple, enjoying the heavy breathing on his neck. “So what do you want next? Shower? Dinner? Bed?” Koke asked.

Antoine let his weight fall against the sofa’s seats, his laboured breathing choked the words on his throat, he looked at Koke with a tired smile.

“You.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This originally belonged to the previous chapter but instead of posting a huge one I decided to split it into two different chapters, hope you don't mind. This way you have more material to read while I'm working on new stuff. I'm currently writing the next one but I'm not sure when it will be up, so I can't promise a date.
> 
> Take care!


	53. Chapter 53

“I can cook a better Asado than you!”

That had been Antoine’s challenge, almost a threat, to his friend Godín. He had learned a lot about Asados with his Real Sociedad friends, almost as much as he had drunk mate, so he felt positively sure that his cooking skills could top those of an actual Uruguayan.

Diego had looked at him in disbelief and had laughed about it, not paying much attention to him. After six months on the team, Diego already knew that Antoine loved to show off his skills, jokingly or not. At the beginning he really thought that Antoine was a really cocky guy, but he quickly discovered that it was actually the opposite, and he did that kind of things just to break the ice.

So the jokes turned into something serious when Antoine invited part of the team to his place so he could prepare an Asado for them. They had their coach’s permission as they had one of those rare matchless weeks. 

He wanted it to be a perfect lunch so he bought the best meat he could find, he made sure that he had enough beverages to satiate so many hungry men, and last but not least, he was careful enough to delete all the traces of Koke’s presence in his house. He was sure their teammates would understand, but he didn’t want to push Koke to do something for which he was so not prepared yet.

Saul was one of the first players arriving to Antoine’s place. They shook hands and he looked around confused. 

“I can’t believe I’m the first one in something!” He joked.

“How are you doing?” Antoine asked signaling Saul’s knee. He had missed the last training sessions after his bad move in the last match.

“I’m doing well, fortunately I’ve not broken anything, so soon I’ll be back on the pitch to give you more assists!” He offered his fist so Antoine could bump it. Antoine looked at his expectant face, rolled his eyes and reluctantly did it. “So, who else is coming?” 

“You know, the people I’m the closest with. The Uruguayans, all the oldies like Gabi, Juanfran and Raul… Please don’t tell them I’ve called them old!” Antoine quickly reacted. “I think Tiago is also coming, Mario and Moya are also invited. I told Torres but he had some family stuff. And that’s pretty much it.”

“I think you forgot your boyfriend!” Saul teased with a cheeky smile. 

Antoine facepalmed, Koke felt so close to him that he always took his presence for granted. He hated the grin on Saul’s face, he enjoyed way too much teasing them about their relationship. 

“You know I trust in your discretion.” Antoine softened his tone, as much as he wanted to snap something intelligent and snarky to Saul, he felt the need to get serious for a moment.

“You’re safe, you know it. But today could be a good day to tell the boys, I don’t know, we’re relaxed, in a friendly atmosphere…” 

“Saul, I appreciate your advice, but it’s not as easy as it seems.” Antoine sat on the sofa and tapped the seat next to him inviting Saul to join him. “As much as we know the guys are trustworthy, tolerant, and everything, it’s quite stressful for us. Especially for Koke, who isn’t that used to it yet.”

“I see, but for example nobody knows about Tiago and Filipe, it hasn’t leaked to the press or to the fans. We all know about it and nobody has messed up telling other people.” Saul explained sitting next to Antoine.

“Look, Koke hasn’t even told his family. Do you really think he’s ready to tell his ‘second family’? He’s putting pressure on himself to tell his parents because he feels he’s lying to them by not telling them. He doesn’t need the stress of telling more people by now.” Antoine gazed at Saul and the younger man nodded. 

“You know about this way more than me, so I guess you’re right. I won’t mention it to Koke, I don’t want to make him feel bad.” Saul sincere words made Antoine smile. He hugged him briefly as the doorbell started to ring again.

As soon as Josema and Diego put a step into his house, he was already listening to a lot of cocky remarks mixed with Uruguayan slang. For Antoine sometimes it was hard to follow them, as he got lost in so many words he couldn’t understand.

“You know we don’t trust you or your Asado, right?” Josema remarked elbowing Diego playfully. “But we’re going to give you a chance.”

“Oh how nice of you!” Antoine replied signaling them the way to the garden where Saul was waiting.

It wasn’t late when the rest of the guests arrived, Antoine welcomed them on the door and led them to the garden. The grill was heating up and Antoine had set up a table with different drinks. Despite of being cold, the grill’s heat made being outside bearable enough to have lunch outside. Antoine put on a ridiculous apron and a silly chef hat, causing a choir of laughs. He uncovered a huge tray with different pieces of meat.

“No French cuisine? What a disappointment for your country!” Gabi teased, taking a sip of his beer.

“You know what, Capi? Great cooks like me can do everything in the kitchen, so today I’m going down the South-American route, but maybe someday I will show you my excellent souffle-cooking skills.” Antoine pouted and Koke had trouble silencing a snort. He knew Antoine’s cooking skills and they didn’t go further than pasta salad and fried eggs.

Antoine turned around and controlled the grill’s temperature, lots of different conversations started on the background. He sprinkled some salt on the meat and patted it, he expected it to be good enough to not listen to Diego and Josema for a few weeks. 

“Hey Grizi, this better be good, those guys are already placing bets on you to fuck up!” Mario Suarez placed his hand on Antoine’s shoulder with a wide smile. Antoine looked over his shoulder and he saw the Uruguayans probably plotting against him. Tiago, Juanfran and Moya were completing the circle, laughing at whatever Diego was saying.

“I’m watching you!” Antoine yelled from his position half-laughing. Josema shrugged his shoulders and smiled back at him. Antoine went back to cooking, Koke joined them.

“So it’s all meat…” Koke pointed out. “Profe Ortega is not going to be happy tomorrow.” Saul, who was walking by stopped in his tracks.

“Profe Ortega what? Is he coming?” He looked at five different directions in a split second and his voice sounded terrified, and that made the three young men burst out laughing.

“We’re safe, my friend.” Mario answered, Saul breathed relieved. “Koke was just asking if meat was the only thing in the menu.”

“Don’t worry guys, there’s some salads in the kitchen, and a lot of fruit. I’ve thought about everything.” Antoine replied, placing the first meat pieces on the grill. A big cloud of smoke fogged his view for a second.

“Oh, let’s bring them here! Mario, let’s go!” Saul grabbed him by his elbow and walked inside the house. Mario didn’t even have enough time to pronounce a ‘why me?’ when he was already dragged inside by Saul.

Koke laughed shyly and rolled his eyes. Saul thought he was subtle, but he behaved like a dorky teenager, which was actually not too far from reality. He was positively sure that if they were all alone, Saul would have spied on them from the living room and would have sniggered if they kissed or held hands. 

“You look very cute in that apron.” Koke pointed out in a low voice. “I’d dare to say you even look sexy on it.” 

Antoine giggled, pushing away the smoke from his face, he looked down to the apron and stared at the cooking piggy on it, he looked back at Koke and raised an eyebrow.

“Really?”

Koke blushed and suppressed a laugh, he started coughing because of the smoke and took a sip of his soda to clear his throat. He gazed at Antoine, with his ears peeking out the hat, his sweaty face, and the childish apron. His look was completed with some flip flops and a bright yellow shirt. 

“Ok, I’ll admit you’re not in your sexiest moment right now, but the cute part still stands.” He rested his hand on Antoine’s shoulder and squeezed it gently. Antoine replied with a gentle smile.

“Let’s see what you’ve got in here!” Godin joined them uninvited, Koke was a bit shaken at first, he had forgotten for a second that they were not alone. Diego started poking at the meat of the tray with his finger. “I can’t believe you added the salt at the beginning.”

“Stop touching my food!” Antoine exclaimed annoyed. “Have you ever heard about germs?”

“You’re exaggerating.” Diego answered, taking a look on the meat on the grill. He made a disapproving sound. “You’re overcooking it.”

“Stop distracting me! Go away!” Antoine said childishly, folding his arms across his chest.

“Oh là là. the chef is angry.” He grinned at Antoine. “How come you’re not yelling at him?” He asked pointing out to Koke.

“Because he’s not here to put pressure on my shoulders.” Antoine replied glaring at Diego.

“I want to… learn.” Koke muttered, pretending to pay attention to the temperature of the grill.

“Oh dear, if you want to learn the secrets of a good Asado you better walk away from this guy. He thinks that by drinking so much mate he has acquired super powers or something.” Diego joked and Antoine protested evidently. “Come here with me, I’ll teach you everything you need.” He said wrapping an arm around Koke’s shoulders, taking him away from Antoine’s side.

They walked a bit until Diego stopped in one of the garden’s corners where some chairs were placed. He sat down and invited Koke to sit down next to him. They had a privileged view of the whole garden, but they were far enough to not get distracted by the others’ conversations.

“Thank me for saving you from breathing liters of smoke.” Diego noted with a toothy grin.

“Gases are measured in liters?” Koke raised an eyebrow, it didn’t sound very legit to him, but he ended up shrugging his shoulders.

“Kokito I’ve not brought you here to discuss Uruguayan gastronomy.” Diego said sincerely. “There’s something I want to talk about with you but I honestly don’t know how to do it.”

“Go ahead” Koke furrowed his brows.

“It’s actually none of my business so please don’t hesitate to make me stop.” He said enigmatically drawing Koke’s attention. “It’s that I’ve been noticing something in the last couple of weeks and maybe it’s just my imagination, but I wanted to share it with you.”

“Come on, this suspense is killing me!” Koke sat on the edge of his seat.

“Koke… Is it possible that you…” Diego cleared his throat, he didn’t really know how to formulate the question. “...feel more attached to Antoine than the rest of us?”

“Well.” Koke tilted his head to the side. “I don’t know how much you feel attached to him.” He pointed out. He was afraid Diego had noticed, but he had to play the fool to keep their secret.

“I mean, I see how much you care about him. The day of the accident you were terribly nervous and on the verge of crying while he was unconscious, you always go wherever he is, you spend a lot of time with him and you seem to enjoy it quite a lot. Right now, for example, you were just swallowing a lot of smoke being by his side.” Diego explained in a soft tone. 

“You know, we’re friends. We get along well, we have lots in common…”

“Koke, I’ve seen this happening before. I’m what you could call a veteran, and I’ve seen a lot of friendships starting, a lot of great relationships, but if I’m honest with you, that’s not what I see in you...”

“And what’s what you see?” Koke was a hundred percent sure of the sentence that would follow up, but he was testing if Diego would dare to say it. 

“Maybe I’m completely wrong, but I see something in you that goes further than friendship and admiration. I think that you not only appreciate him…” Diego stopped to wet his lips, he hesitated for a few seconds gaining all of Koke’s attention, as soon as they young man looked at him, he continued. “I think you are in love with him.”

Koke was impressed by Diego’s intuition and he was equally shocked by how sincerely he had talked to him. Maybe it was his experience and age, but he couldn’t think of more than two or three people on the team who would be that articulate and observant. 

“You think I’m in love with him.” Koke repeated hoping not to blush in front of Diego.

“That’s what I said.” Diego looked at Koke’s face searching for a confirmation. “Of course you don’t have to share with me anything you don’t want to, but that’s what I’ve perceived during these weeks and I’m sorry if you feel that I’m crossing some lines. I don’t want to interfere on your private life or anything, I know you hate it.”

“Diego…” Koke said smiling softly. “We’ve been friends for almost five years now. If I’m going to allow someone to talk to me about this kind of stuff, that’s you, for sure.”

“So...?” Diego showed a toothy grin, looking forward to Koke’s answer. 

“Come on, guys! This is ready! Hurry up before it gets cold!” Antoine shouted, carrying the tray of cooked meat to the big table he had set up. Everybody walked towards the table and started taking seats.

“So…” Koke said standing up. “It’s lunch time! And I can’t wait to see you dragging Grizi.” He winked to Diego and walked away leaving him without a final answer.

Diego didn’t need it anyway.


	54. Chapter 54

It had been a week but Koke felt he had been injured for months. Time went by way too slowly when he couldn’t train or play. He hated to see Antoine leave in the mornings and not going with him. He hated spending so much time on his own, and above all, he hated to watch matches without being able to help. He was definitely not made to not be a part of the game, and he was determined to work hard in his recovery so he could be back as soon as possible.

Atleti had to play in Germany a Champions League game and the house felt terribly huge and empty without Antoine in it, so he decided to spend a couple of nights in his parents’ house. He missed chatting until late with his brother, his house scent, and that bedroom in which he spent so many years dreaming about becoming a star.

All those old Atleti posters on the walls reminded him of his past self, that young kid that looked up to his brother, which was an outstanding football player with an immense amount of talent. He also remembered the day Borja had to withdraw his dreams of becoming a professional football player… that damn injury. But since then, Borja had become more involved in Koke’s career and he had given him a lot of valuable tips which he was using everyday.

Koke dropped his backpack on the floor and sat on the edge of his bed. He sighed deeply and dialed a number on his phone.

“Hey.” Koke started shyly, almost too embarrassed of calling.

“I wasn’t expecting a call.” Antoine replied letting a brief laugh out.

“I know, it’s been only a few hours, but I wanted to ask how things were going. How was the training?” Ever since he got injured, he felt more and more needy of Antoine’s attention. The fact that they were spending a few hours a day apart was affecting him. He used to be really independent, but that seemed a thing of the past.

“You know, the usual: freezing cold, good grass, Profe Ortega yelling at us... “ Antoine joked.

“And who are you spending the night with?”

“Oooh, jealousy!” The singing tone Antoine used made Koke crack up.

“I’m not jealous! I’m just curious!” Koke defended himself.

“I’m sleeping with the snore-master, but don’t worry, he’s pampering me with mates and I brought earplugs so I should be fine.”

“Cool, say Diego hi from me.”

“I will, as soon as he leaves the toilet.”

“Too much information!” Koke complained, Antoine laughed on the other side of the line. “You must be really tired, I better let you rest.”

“Call me tomorrow morning, I will be so bored without you.”

“I’ll try. Good luck for tomorrow. I love you!” Koke let out in a sweet tone.

“Thank you. Bye!”

Koke ended the call and continued tapping on his phone, trying to find a distraction, a knocking sound shook him out of his thoughts. He turned around to see his Mother hitting the door’s frame with her knuckles.

“Sweetie we’re ordering takeover food. Do you want anything in particular?” She asked softly.

“I trust you, I’m not very hungry anyway.” Koke shrugged his shoulders, and then it hit him. “Wait, how much time have you been there?”

“Just enough.” She smiled and stepped into Koke’s room, closing the door behind her.

She walked to Koke and sat next to him. She breathed deeply and placed her hand on Koke’s knee. Koke swallowed hard, he was very nervous and he didn’t really know how to behave.

“Don’t worry, I’m not going to ask you any questions.” She squeezed Koke’s leg and looked into his eyes. “But I’m very happy for you.”

“Mom, I…” He looked down, his mouth feeling dry. “Thanks.” He muttered.

“You know, it’s been weeks, if not months, seeing something different in you. Something that makes your eyes glow. I had my theories about it, but I’m glad you found someone.” She explained, caressing Koke’s knee. “As I said, I’m not going to ask you anything about it, but if you want to tell me something, I’ll be very happy to hear it.”

Koke observed the gesture on his Mother’s face. The woman’s smile was sincere and inviting, her eyes were warm, and Koke needed to take the pressure off his shoulders.

“I’m in love.” Koke rushed the words but they were intelligible enough.

“Well, that was what I had figured out from that ‘I love you’, the great mood, the silly smile you have plastered on your face the whole time, and the fact that you didn’t want to tell us.” She let out enthusiastically before grabbing Koke in a tight hug. After a few seconds she continued. “Honey, why is your heart beating so fast?” She broke the hug and placed her hands on Koke’s shoulders, looking directly into his eyes, he quickly looked away.. “I see... there’s something else.”

Koke hadn’t said a word, but the way he couldn’t keep the stare for more than a few seconds was a message strong enough for his Mother.

“It’s ok, when you are ready to tell me I’ll be here.” She knew for a fact that pushing Koke was the worst way to get him to tell her something, it always was a lost battle. When she learnt to give him time and space, he trusted her more easily. It had been such a long learning process.

“Thank you.” He sighed, he really wanted to tell his Mother, but somehow the words were really hard to pronounce. He knew his Mother would understand, he knew she would support him without a doubt, but when he was about to tell her, the words died on his throat and he swallowed them.

The woman left the room feeling a trace of sadness. She wanted to help her son, but he wasn’t ready to accept that help yet. She had listened to the whole sentence: _‘Good luck for tomorrow. I love you’_ . It was the first time she heard Koke saying ‘I love you’ to someone who wasn’t a family member, and it felt strange yet liberating. He had finally found love, but it was obviously not an easy relationship given how little he wanted to talk about it.

“Good luck for tomorrow…” She mumbled on her way to the living room.

\----

“Thank you, Bye!” Antoine couldn’t risk saying ‘I love you’ back with Diego behind the thin toilet wall. He expected Koke to understand it, as Diego had started with the suspicions.

Koke had told him about the little talk they had the Asado day, and Antoine was quite surprised at Diego’s detective skills. He was pretty sure that Koke wasn’t obvious at all, they were really careful with the way they talked to each other in public. They tried to spend time apart so people wouldn’t find it weird. Koke used to be with the Spaniards, and Antoine with the mate-drinking people. They had found that method to be apart, and it seemed to work well.

Antoine was sure that Diego would be a good person to rely their secret on, but they had promised Simeone to not tell too much people on the team about it, and Koke wasn’t feeling ready about it either, so he decided to not be the one breaking the news to him.

The bathroom door opened and Diego joined Antoine in the room. He sat on his bed and grabbed his phone to set an alarm on it.

“Is 8AM ok with you?” He asked.

“What the hell Diego, breakfast is open until 10, the match is in the evening, I don’t want to wake up that early!” Antoine protested, folding his arms across his chest. “Given that I’m not going to be able to sleep a lot thanks to your snores you could give me some air!” He continued in a dramatic tone.

“Ok, 8:30 then!” He grinned and ignored Antoine’s complain. “No wonder I never see you or Koke on match-day breakfasts…”

“Sleeping is healthy you know. But it’s ok, I know old people like to wake up early.” Antoine teased hiding himself behind his pillow, in case Diego reacted throwing him a shoe or something.

“I see you two have a lot in common…” Diego raised an eyebrow and left the phone on the bedside table.

“Yeah, we do, I’m so happy we’re friends.” Antoine shrugged his shoulders.

“You know, Kokito cares a lot about you.” Diego hinted in a cheeky tone.

“Really?” Antoine was ready to follow Diego’s game, it was the best way for him to not suspect anything. “Why do you say that?”

“Remember that day when I knocked you out?” Antoine glared at Diego and he continued. “Well, I’ve never seen Koke so nervous before. He was terrified and spent shaking a while even after you recovered your consciousness.”

“I guess it was scary.” Antoine brushed it off.

“What I mean is, take good care of that friendship, because it’s a valuable one.” Diego smiled. “Koke is a really good guy, you’re very lucky.”

Antoine blushed slightly and nodded. He decided to not continue with the conversation in case he said something that could make things obvious to Diego.

“I think we should try to sleep a bit, tomorrow is an important day.” Antoine suggested covering his face with the duvet, trying to hide his still rose-tinted cheeks.

Diego agreed and imitated his roommate. They had a big day ahead.

\----

“So Mum knows?” Borja asked, taking a sip of his night tea.

“Only half of it, and I can’t find the way to tell her. I don’t know why it is so difficult.” Koke set up the alarm on his phone. Despite of being injured and the team being in Germany, he had to do his recovery work in Atleti’s gym.

“Because it is a complete new situation for you. It’s not the same telling a friend, or a brother, sharing generation and all, that telling someone way older, who also happens to be your Mother. You respect her so much, and her approbation means the world for you, so you’re scared as fuck because you don’t know how she’s going to react.”

“Yeah.” Koke didn’t even know why he was still awake, but he was sure he couldn’t sleep if he tried.

“If the reaction is good, everything is great. But if somehow her reaction is not… that’s what you fear, but it’s not going to happen.” Borja left the empty cup on the counter, and poured a bit more of tea on it.

“You’re going to pee five times tonight if you continue like that… How come you’re so sure?” Koke furrowed his brows.

“Because she’s dying to see you happy with another person, she has commented on this a lot of times.”

“Wow, I didn’t know my love life was such a hot topic in this house…” Koke let out half annoyed.

“Come on, it’s normal for a Mother to wonder about her kids lives, I think she’s not still over you moving to your own place. She’s never been a controlling Mother, but she misses you and she just wants you to be alright. And you are happier than ever before, I’m sure that will be enough for her.”

“And how about Dad?” Koke asked fearing the answer.

“You know that’s another different world. He’s way less emotional than Mum, and that has its good parts and its bad parts. Maybe he will focus on how difficult will be for you to keep a secret relationship more than on how happy you are. But with a bit of time he will be very happy for you.” Borja sipped on his second cup of tea calmly, almost trying to soothe his brother.

“I adore your optimism. Maybe I should tell them at the same time so their reactions can balance things out for me. I don’t know Borja, I need to let this out of my chest, this is stressing me out, I even have nightmares from time to time.”

“Just do me a favour.” Borja finished the second cup and went to wash the cup. “Let me be present when you do it, it may help you.”

Koke nodded thinking that maybe, he also had a big day ahead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for waiting for this one for so long!


	55. Chapter 55

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: This chapter may contain some homophobic behaviours and remarks. It is free from slurs and violence, but if you feel triggered by that kind of content, feel free to skip it. I've written this chapter very carefully because it was necessary for the development of the story but it's a very delicate issue to address, so that's why it has taken me so long.
> 
> To my LGBT+ readers, I'm very grateful for all the feedback you've been giving to me since the beginning, you've been really supportive, and sometimes you've been the push I've needed to continue writing. I hope you don't feel uncomfortable while reading this because that would be the last thing in the World I would want. I will be looking forward to your feedback more than ever before. Hope to not let you down and Happy Pride Month!
> 
> To all of you, I'm so sorry for the delay, I'm not planning on giving up writing, but real life sometimes drains your free time in a really bad way.
> 
> Much love!

Watching the match from home was not only nerve-wracking but also a bit exhausting. He couldn't help his teammates, he saw them struggling, and he even had to listen to the hard criticism his Father was spitting out. The man had been an Atleti fan his entire life, and he got way too involved in matches. His Mother used to say that she feared for his health because getting that involved in all things Atleti wasn't good, but he couldn't help it. It was his way to live football.

Things had gone worse since Koke played for Atleti because he never saw the fault on Koke's performance but he always blamed the rest for the mistakes happening, even if it was Koke's fault. Koke was lucky he never had to listen to him, but Borja had told him about it and they always laughed it off and rolled his eyes at his behaviour. This time, it was getting to Koke's nerves, he couldn't stand so much cruel criticism to his teammates, because they were obviously trying their best but they were just being unlucky.

The match ended with Atleti's defeat, and the late dinner was waiting for them. They sat around the table and looked at the food, none of them was really hungry after the disappointment, but they started taking small bites.

His Mother started a bit of small talk trying to distract them from the match's result, but she soon noticed that it wasn't going to be an easy task, nobody was really contributing to a proper conversation, and she was giving up.

After a couple of minutes in silence, Koke's Dad broke it.

"That red card... I can't believe Tiago did that! With his experience, that's a rookie mistake! Unbelievable..." The man complained. 

"Dad, just forget about it." Borja muttered, playing with an olive with his fork.

"Don't blame Tiago! He did what he could! We all make mistakes." Koke explained. "I've made a lot of stupid mistakes and I've never seen you complaining that much."

"I blame him because it was his fault. What are you now? His lawyer? His boyfriend?" His Father replied in a mocking tone. 

The whole table went silent and Borja glanced over his brother, Koke was staring down at his plate. He was grabbing his fork so firmly that his knuckles were turning white. Borja swallowed hard and shook his head, he could almost feel his brother's nervousness. Their Father was still chewing on his food calmly, and their Mother was looking bored at the football conversation. But Borja knew the football conversation was already over.

"It's ok, let's change the subject..." Borja said. 

"No!" Koke said sternly, but with a slightly shaky voice. "I have something to say." He felt his heart racing and his mouth went dry. He wasn't even sure of what he was about to say, but he couldn't stay silent for much longer. "Dad, I don't like that kind of jokes."

"Which jokes?" The man replied confused, waiting for an explanation.

"The boyfriend thing. It's not funny." Koke furrowed his brows, trying to stay as calm as possible. Borja and his Mother were looking at him intently.

"What's wrong with that?" 

"It's disrespectful." Koke replied quickly. "You made it sound like it would be..." He hesitated for a few seconds "Ridiculous if I was his boyfriend."

His Father muffled a laugh into the napkin he was using to clean his mouth. 

"Wouldn’t it be?" He laughed.

Koke clenched his fists and bit down on his lower lip hard.

"Honey..." Koke's Mum said to her husband.

"What?"

"Shut up." She snapped at him in an angry tone.

Those two words from his Mother gave Koke a little push and the last bit of bravery he needed to continue the conversation to redirect it to the point he was trying to reach.

"Why would it be so ridiculous? Would it be ridiculous of me to be gay or it would be ridiculous to date a teammate?" Koke asked in a quite serious and confident way, even his brother smirked.

"I don't get all these questions. Why do you seem so bothered by the things I said?" 

"I asked first." Koke insisted calmly.

"It is ridiculous because you're not gay, that's why it would be so ridiculous." The man tried to explain.

"And what would happen if I were gay? Would it still be ridiculous?" 

"No, it wouldn't." Koke's Mum quickly replied. There was something on her face that gave away that she was understanding the situation quite well.

“Come on, why do you seem so distressed over a fictitious situation?” His Father furrowed his brows, looking at the offended expressions in his family’s faces.

“You haven’t replied to my question. I’m waiting.” Koke carried on with a fierce expression, he glanced shyly to his mother and she nodded at him with a serious face. 

“Jorge, I don’t get it…” The man answered rubbing a spot on his temple. 

“Would you support me if I were gay?” Koke continued bombarding his Father with questions, trying to obtain a genuine answer. “Would you love me less if I were gay?”

“Stop it with the annoying questions!” The old man used a stern tone but that didn’t scare Koke away.

“They are not annoying questions, they’re perfectly valid. What is annoying is your behaviour, you are not replying to my questions because you know the answers, we all know them. You are afraid to say out loud that you wouldn’t like to have a gay son.” Koke continued. 

“It’s not that I wouldn’t like it, it’s that I would find it weird.” He shrugged his shoulders. Koke raised his both eyebrows at his answer, feeling more and more angry. He tried to calm himself down sipping a bit of his water. After a few deep breaths, he found the calm tone he was searching.

“Why would it be weird?”

“I don’t know, there’s no gay people in this family. It would be something… new.” His Father also lowered the tone finding the newfound calmness in his younger son quite strange.

“Something new isn’t weird. It’s just new.” Koke made sense.

“Listen to your son.” Koke’s Mum said to her husband.

“Well, it would be weird to me!” The man carried on.

“Then the problem isn’t in the gay person, the problem is inside your brain. The weirdness is inside you, not them… us.” Koke corrected himself, furrowing his brows.

His Mother muttered an ‘ok’, like she was confirming the theories she had been making. She smiled softly and reached Koke’s hand over the table, caressing it with her fingers. Then she grasped it and squeezed it reassuringly. Koke mimicked the shy smile thanking her.

“Wait what?” Koke’s Father asked, quite confused.

“For God’s sake!” The woman muttered rolling her eyes. Making Borja choking a laugh.

“Dad, I’ve spent months trying to find the best way to say this. I don’t think I’ve found it, but I’m tired of hiding myself. I’m dating another man.”

“Are… you… gay?” The man pronounced the words slowly, still quite shocked.

“I guess so.” Koke felt a huge weight being lifted off his shoulders, his breathing pace turned less accelerated, more natural.

“Is this some kind of joke?” The man asked in disbelief.

“Look Dad, I’m getting tired of this kind of comments. I would never joke with something like this. I’m very serious, I’m dating another man and I’m very happy, thanks for asking!” He was raising his voice tone again, he couldn’t help but feeling mad and frustrated.

“I’m very glad for you, sweetie.” His Mother smiled. I hope you found ‘the one’” She made Koke blush at the thought. “And excuse your Father, you know how he is…” She glared at her husband with angry eyes.

“Oh come on! Am I the only one who finds this strange?” He asked standing up.

“Yes.” The three people still sitting down replied at the same time.

“But you’ve dated girls in the past!” 

“Peer pressure. Didn’t like it though.” Koke replied calmly. 

“And you discover it now? At your age?” The man was still having a rough time understanding it.

“Maybe I hadn’t find the right person…”

“You know what? I think you’re just confused! There was someone out there who saw in you an easy target and lured you into thinking you’re gay, but he probably just wants the money and the fame. And…” He gasped. “Have you even thought about your career?!” 

“Look.” Koke tried to control himself but his tone was closer to shouting now. “I’m not even going to start explaining how wrong are all the things you just said! You’re behaving like an ignorant and stupid homophobe, and I’m not here to listen all this pile of bullshit!” He stood up. “When you’ve learnt what respect is you can talk to me, until then, I don’t even want to hear from you!”

Koke left the house after kissing his Mother’s head and hugging Borja. He was pretty sure he wouldn’t come back to that house anytime soon. Not after the things that had just happened. It just confirmed what he thought, that his Father was far from being a tolerant person. It was disappointing and sad, but on the other hand he felt relieved and happy for his Mother’s support. He was sure that as soon as he walked out the door, his Mother would be trying to knock some sense into his Father. She was a great ally, but it was the man who had to understand by himself. 

 

It was late, very late. The clock was nearing four in the morning, and Antoine had just got to his home. He walked to his room lazily, dropping items of clothing on his way to the bed, he would take care of that the next day, he just wanted to rest and forget about the horrible match in Germany. When he got to his room he switched the nightside lamp on, to finish undressing. He felt his heart jumping out his ribcage when he saw someone on his bed, a few seconds later, with his eyes finally adjusted to the light, he recognized Koke’s frame, who was waking up. 

“I’m sorry!” Antoine said switching the lamp off. “I thought you were staying at your parents' house.”

“It’s ok, I wasn’t deeply asleep anyway.” Koke was finding a lot of problems to fall asleep after the argument with his Father. He was rewording the conversation in his head, but he didn’t find a better way to come out than the one he used. He wasn’t regretting anything, but he wished for a better reaction. 

“How come you’re here?” Antoine asked joining him in bed.

“I missed you. And I also thought you could use some cuddles after the match today.” Koke replied. 

“You’re right. I can.” Antoine said with a soft smile, hugging Koke warmly and kissing his neck. There was, anyway, something in Koke’s voice that told him that he wasn’t telling him all the truth. But he was way too tired to figure it out, so it went on top of his ‘to do tomorrow’ list. 

“Come on, let’s get some sleep.” Koke pecked on Antoine’s lips, and rested his head on his chest. Listening to his heartbeat was always calming and it made him feel at home. Antoine placed one of his hands on his head, caressing his hair soothingly.

As late as it was, Antoine was completely aware of his surroundings, there was way too much stuff happening preventing him to get some sleep: the heaviness on his legs, the coldness in the room, the unexpected wetness on his chest… 

"Do you want to talk?" Antoine whispered, kissing the top of Koke's head.

"Tomorrow." Koke muttered against Antoine's skin.

His list had now a number one priority.


	56. Chapter 56

There’s those times when you need to rest but there’s something important enough to not let you do it. Those times when you are in bed, awake, not getting sleep at all, yet not being able to solve the issue that is preventing you from sleeping. This was one of those frustrating times.

Antoine couldn’t see much in the dark room, but the dim light entering through the window showed enough to him. Koke was peacefully sleeping by his side with his face buried in some place between Antoine’s chest and stomach. His posture was screaming that he really needed Antoine’s warmth, almost seeking his protection. His hands were tucked under his face, and Antoine thought that Koke would wake up with a sore neck, sleeping so far from his pillow.

Anyway the sore neck wasn’t the problem here. Some massages and maybe painkillers would solve it, the problem was something deep and complex. Antoine felt completely clueless as he had been far from his boyfriend for almost two days. Before that time Koke was his usual cheerful self, and even when they talked on the phone he still behaved as always. There certainly was something important that had happened afterwards that made Koke to not wait until next morning to seek his support. The remaining of his tears on Antoine’s clothes were the definite clue.

His exhausted mind tried to solve the mystery but there was some information missing, like an incomplete puzzle. After spending what seemed half an hour trying to figure it out, his tired eyelids won the battle.

 

A shiver travelled through his body, waking him up. He grabbed the soft fabric and pulled it up to cover his torso, happily humming at the sudden warmth. Then it hit him, he was probably burying Koke under the duvet so he carefully peeked under its fabric to discover he was alone. Now the coldness made sense. He sat up on the mattress, checking the nearest clock after rubbing his eyes. Ten in the morning. Not too late, but moderately early for a training-less morning. He took a look at the room and there were no signs of Koke nearby. He shrugged his shoulders and uncovered his body, after all, he wasn’t sleepy anymore.

A brief tour through the main rooms of the house gave away that Koke was nowhere to be seen. Not in the kitchen preparing breakfast, not boringly watching the always-improvable morning TV, not taking a shower, neither enjoying the February sun.

That was most definitely something strange. Koke never woke up without lazing around the bed for a while until Antoine was more or less awake. He loved to receive the morning cuddles Antoine had always prepared for him. And if he indeed woke up, he never left without saying a word. It wasn’t his style.

Antoine wasn’t a person who enjoyed changes, but if those changes involved the person who was the center of his little universe, the lack of enjoyment turned into severe annoyment. He grabbed his phone and called him. It couldn’t wait.

“Hello.” Koke said, his voice raspier than usual.

“I woke up and I couldn’t see your beautiful face. I’m furious.” Antoine joked.

“I’m sorry, it’s just that... “ Koke hesitated. “I forgot to feed Romeo and I wanted to do it before the morning gym session.”

“Oh right.” Antoine had forgotten that Koke’s injury was altering his normal training schedules and he had to visit the gym a few times a day to help his leg heal sooner. “You could have told me. I was worried.”

“You looked so calm and your face was so tired last night, that it seemed cruel to wake you up.”

“Come home after the gym, please, I’ve missed you.” His almost pleading voice sounded desperate, but Antoine didn’t care too much about it.

“Sure, are you cooking?”

“I love us more than that.” Antoine laughed. “By the way, how’s your neck? Sore?”

“How do you know it? Anyway, Grizi I’m leaving, see you later. Love you.”

Antoine didn’t have enough time to say “I love you” back, it was a good thing that Koke already knew.

 

“It was Antoine, right?”

“Yes, he didn’t see me when he woke up so he worried.” Koke replied putting the phone into his jacket pocket.

“Have you told him?”

“No.”

“You should.”

Borja was right, Koke thought, but telling Antoine about the behaviour of his father wasn’t much of a plan. First of all he didn’t want to talk about it, and there was also that part in which Antoine would discover that he was dating the son of an homophobe, and that wasn’t going to be pleasing for any of them.

“He would help you with the whole situation.” Borja noted, almost reading his brother’s mind. “I don’t know if he has gone through anything similar, but if anyone can help you, that’s him.”

“You are probably right.” Koke replied stirring his coffee, lost in his thoughts. “How are things at home?” He finally reacted.

“Well, after you left there wasn’t too much talk. Mum tried to knock some sense into Dad, and at least he listened. I guess we have to give him time, but I’m sure he’ll understand and he’ll end up supporting you. He loves you, and always wants the best for you.” Borja sipped on his coffee. “What he doesn’t know is that you already found the best for you.”

Koke smiled softly. Borja had that ability to calm him down since they were toddlers.

“And have you talked to Mum? I’m sad I left that way and I couldn’t talk things more calmly with her. Her words meant a lot.”

“No, she went to bed early so we couldn’t talk. But I knew she’d react like that, she has mentioned a few times how happy she saw you recently, so I guess it’s a relief for her to finally know the reason.”

“Good, I’ll call her later to thank her. And thanks for coming this early, I needed to talk.” Koke blushed slightly.

“Always for you.” Borja smiled.

 

Koke opened the door of Antoine’s house with his keys, after all Antoine had invited him hours before. He entered the home and went directly to the living room, which was empty.

“Hello?” His voice echoed through the house.

“Ah, right on time!” Antoine exclaimed appearing on one of the corridors, he welcomed Koke with a quick peck on the lips and grabbed his hand, almost dragging him to one of the rooms. “I’ve prepared something for you.” Antoine said hurriedly, walking to the main bathroom. “Ta-da!” He sang triumphantly.

Koke admired Antoine’s dedication to surprises, but he was rushing it so much Koke couldn’t even process it. In the bathroom he could see the bathtub with overflowing bubbles, some vanilla-scented candles, and some towels neatly folded. He turned to Antoine looking confused.

“Your sore neck. I’m gonna fix it!” Antoine said cheerfully, pointing out at some items on a shelf. There was a bottle of massage oil and a few wooden massage rollers. “I’ve not given you a massage in eons and I know you love it, so I think this is a good time to do it.”

His smile was so sincere that it almost melt Koke’s heart. He had put so much effort on this, that Koke didn’t have the heart to tell him that what he really needed at that moment was some lunch because he was starving.

“I don’t deserve you.” Koke sighed and placed his arms around Antoine’s waist, he kissed softly the side of his neck and nuzzled the skin for an instant.

“Come on, the water is going to get cold!” Antoine whispered, fighting the shivers and hating himself for stopping the romantic moment. He pushed Koke away lazily and started to undress him. He was trying to be quick, but every now and then he couldn’t help planting some kisses on Koke’s warm skin, making his boyfriend smile fondly.

“Your attention span is a bit limited.” Koke joked finally naked, Antoine rolled his eyes and pushed his back, guiding him to the bathtub. He offered him a hand and helped him to step into the bathtub. He squirmed when the hot water washed his skin, but the feeling turned good quite quickly. Antoine sat on the edge of the bathtub, rubbing his hands with the lavender-oil, and starting to work on Koke’s clenched muscles.

It wasn’t a surprise to Antoine how much tension there was on those muscles, it had been a couple of stressful weeks for Koke with the injury and all. His thumbs digged on some painful points which made Koke complain, but after a while, the stiffness was almost gone, and Koke’s uncomfortable whimpers turned into approving sounds. Antoine smiled and went to kiss Koke’s shoulder, he was so happy to help.

Koke turned his face to the side inviting Antoine to continue the kiss trail on his face, but Antoine continued taking care of the sore neck. He complained.

“Aren’t you going to join me here?” Koke asked innocently, almost with a puppy face. Antoine looked at him as if he had insinuated that two plus two equals five.

“The point here is pampering you.” Antoine replied ever so evidently.

Koke laughed softly and turned around, getting to his knees inside the bathtub, his sudden movement made the water splash everywhere and Antoine emitted a disapproving growl. Koke giggled.

“Come on, I’ll clean that up later.” His hands already tucking on Antoine’s clothes. Antoine didn’t offer too much resistance and it wasn’t late when he was joining Koke in the now warm water.

He sat behind Koke to get a good access to the massaged area and he continued kneading the muscles. It was a difficult task because Koke kept on interrupting him turning around to kiss him.

“Gosh, you’re making things difficult!” Antoine exclaimed.

“I mean, I love your massages, and my neck is feeling much better now. But I’ve missed you terribly and I need a bit of love.” Koke said cheesily.

Antoine rolled his eyes and stood up, grabbing a pair of towels, offering one to Koke.

“Alright, let’s get some food and then we can cuddle all you want until the afternoon training.” Koke’s face lit up.

“You are the best!” He hugged Antoine while he was placing the towel around his waist, making him drop it on the water. Antoine glared at him and Koke raised his eyebrows. “Thanks for the massage!” He exclaimed innocently.

 

A bit of sushi was the perfect choice, Koke thought. A delicious and not heavy meal that allowed them to lie down quite soon, so they could maximize their time together.

“I asked the physios to have my afternoon gym time at the same time as your training so we can go together.” Koke whispered with his eyes closed, Antoine was cuddling him, running his fingers through his hair. “They say I can join the group training in a few days.” Koke wasn’t sure it was the effect of the massage, but for the first time in weeks he was feeling actually relaxed.

Antoine smiled and kissed his cheek, it was a relief knowing that Koke would be again a part of the team. They had some movie playing on TV but it wasn’t anything else than background noise. Antoine loved that because he enjoyed the bubble they created around themselves and how there wasn’t a thing that could disturb them when they were that cozy and intimate.

“Has it been painful?”

Koke swallowed hard. He knew Antoine meant his injury, but he was now realizing that the leg was the thing that was bothering him the less in the last couple of days, to the point that he would only notice the physical pain when physios told him he was going too fast or too strong in the gym sessions.

“Not too much, I’ve been careful.” A white lie couldn’t harm anyone, right?

There was still something on Koke’s answers that wasn’t quite right. He took long pauses before answering simple questions, as if he wasn’t completely focused on the conversation, and that wasn’t normal on him.

“Kokito…” Antoine said softly in a sugary tone. “You know you can trust me anything, right?” Antoine reminded him in a reassuring tone. He didn’t mean it as a reminder, but as an invitation. It was difficult to break the ice and he knew that being too direct would cause Koke to hide into his shell as a scared turtle.

Koke just nodded, making the tip of his nose rub against Antoine’s cheek. He also emitted what seemed an affirmative sound. Antoine waited for a few more seconds but Koke’s answer ended there, he frowned.

“I mean, if there’s something bothering you… your muscles were super tensioned and well, I guess I can help in more ways than a massage…” Antoine hated to be pushy, but he knew his hands hadn’t solved whatever problem Koke had.

“I’m fine.” Koke finally opened his eyes and looked at Antoine, he smiled, kissed his lips, and closed his eyes again.

That was the most unconvincing ‘I’m fine’ Antoine had ever heard, joined to the saddest smile he had ever seen on Koke. That man was so transparent. The fact that Koke had opened his eyes to reassure him only increased Antoine’s concern. The sparkle that was always on his eyes was extinct, and the brown on his eyes looked grey as a foggy day. And the problem was bigger because Koke didn’t want to tell him the reason to why he was slowly becoming a somber version of himself.

A hundred of theories ran through Antoine’s mind at every passing second. Some involved himself and the fact that Koke could be questioning their whole relationship, some others were about someone hurting Koke, or maybe it was something completely different to all of that. Was Romeo healthy? Was his injury really getting better?

Antoine’s brain was working at full capacity and it made his head hurt, he hated uncertainty. A soft snore shook him off. He looked at Koke and smiled, at least one of them could push the problems aside enough to sleep. He repositioned himself carefully to not wake him up and reached his phone, he unlocked it and started tapping on it.

_Hey, I need to see you. Is tomorrow afternoon ok?_

_Cool, see you._

 

He would find his answers with or without Koke’s help.


End file.
